In Little River
by OliviaLively
Summary: Amu, a closet orphan, faces a crushing change in her life when the local bad boy is ordered to do his volunteer hours where she is staying. She hates his guts, but will that change? Will she come to terms with being an orphan? Will she solve the mystery of her mother's murder?
1. Saturday

**LivLiv: Hey! This is a very old story of mine, I think I was 14 or 15 when I started writing it. I'm going to be 19 in April. Time flies, changes and turns, and so have I. I'm going to re-edit this story and complete it for my readers. I'm curious to see how 15 year old me could write. ;)**

**Amu: 17 – plays guitar, orphan, works at a cafe.**

**Utau: 17 - rich, Amu's best friend, works at cafe. **

**Yaya: 17 – cute, fun, not really Amu's best friend, works at cafe.**

**Ikuto: 17 – bad boy, flirt, playboy, (the normal stuff) lol.**

In Little River...

**Chapter One: Saturday**

"_They beat you, and blame you, for all that you've been through._

_But hey, it's just another Saturday."_

_-Hedley._

"I'm going to win!" Yaya shouts as she runs toward the local beach, knocking people down on the way.

"No you aren't, Shorty!" Utau teases, bolting past Yaya with her long legs, her blonde hair blowing in the wind.

"HA!" Yaya grunts as she jumps on top of Utau. They both tumble into the sand, laughing their heads off. They look more like beached whales than a bunch of 17 year old girls. I pull the cheap, disposable camera out of my beach bag and snap a photo of them making fools of each other.

"Hey!" Utau says, struggling out of Yaya's iron grip. The blonde dusts off the sand from her butt as she staggers toward me to grab the camera out of my nimble hands.

"Well, if you didn't want me to take embarrassing pictures of you, you shouldn't have done something embarrassing! Simple as that." I smirk, crossing my arms.

"I assumed you'd have some common courtesy and _not _document my embarrassing endeavors." Utau tries to defend herself with clever words.

"You know what happens when you assume." I warn.

"What happens?" she asks quizzically.

"You make an _ass_ out of _you_ and _me_. A-S-S-U-M-E. Assume!" I laugh.

"Oh YOU!" Utau shouts and pulls me to the ground. As we fell, Utau sat on some little kid's sand castle; a flurry of loud tears following our crash.

**»-(¯`v´¯)-» Olivia Lively »-(¯`v´¯)-» **

"Ok, Yaya... hottest guy and... dumbest girl." Utau declares. The three of us play a game called Pumpkin Seed. We started it in our first year of middle school, around Halloween. We were carving pumpkins together for the class, when Utau asked me, "Who do you think is the smartest student?" Thus, the birth of pumpkin seeds. We pick a stereotype such as, prettiest girl, biggest bitch, most likely to become a stripper, etc.

"Hmm... Ikuto Tsukiyomi... and... Oh, this is a no-brain-er. Saaya Yamabuki. Ha ha! No-brain-er!" Yaya laughs at her own joke.

"Haha! Yeah, she _is _dumb. And _everyone _thinks Ikuto is hot." Utau says.

"Too bad he is a delinquent-playboy-flirt with a bad attitude. And he has a weird hair color." I say.

"Don't even talk, Amu. Your hair is pink." Yaya laughs again, pulling lightly at a strand of my damp, long hair.

"IT'S NATURAL!" I shout.

"Ugh. Let's go home. I've got lots of sand up my butt, and I need to take a shower." Utau whines.

"I'd like to see that." A familiar voice says from behind us. We turn around to see none other than Ikuto Tsukiyomi himself, clad in a pair of swim trunks. And nothing else.

"Hey, are you off suspension yet?" Yaya asks curiously in a friendly tone. Too friendly to be speaking with such a jerk!

"Or was it house arrest this time?" I ask coldly.

"Amu, you're so cold! Let me warm you up." he flirts, walking towards me.

"Not a chance." I verbally slap him, waving a hand.

"When are you coming back to school?" Yaya asks in that same, friendly tone. Whose side is she on, anyways?!

"Tomorrow." He answers with disdain.

"You look happy." Utau smirks.

"Ecstatic." he remarks sarcastically.

Utau used to have a huge crush on Ikuto. It was huge. Almost as big as Russia! But she moved on. Now she likes Ikuto's friend, Kukai. He's the soccer captain.

"So... Amu." Ikuto starts. "You look nice today."

"Yep. Go away." I snap at him. So perverted.

"Aww! You're so shy. How cute." he flirts.

"No. I just really don't like you."

"Fine. Later Utau, Yaya." He nods to them, turning around to walk away confidently. Not one dent or scratch in his pride. He stops walking and turns back to face us. "Bye Amu." he smirks. I roll my eyes.

"Oh... my.. GOD!" Utau squeals. "He TOTALLY likes you!"

"Totally!" Yaya squeals in agreement.

"You're SOOO lucky." Utau pinches my sides. I avoid their badgering, getting curious of the time.

"EEEP!" I screech. "Don't do that!" I scold, angry at their teasing. "Shit...What time is it?"

"Uhh. 5pm." Yaya says, looking at her watch.

"MOTHER OF GOD!" I scream.

"Your parents still on about your curfew?" Utau asks. "Jeez! It's Saturday! They're so mean."

"Uhh... yeah... B-bye!" I stutter, picking up all of my clothes and beach stuff. Sprinting to the road from the beach, I ignore Utau shouting back at me.

"Run Forrest, RUN!" I hear the two of them joke.

"Where are you going, Speedy Gonzales?" Ikuto teases as I run by him.

I bolt up the empty highway that ran through our small town, Little River. Which, I must say, is a pretty dumb name for our town since there is no river running through it. There's an ocean at the end of town, instead. Anyway, we have an Inn; the Benjamin Inn, two restaurants; The Red Dragon and Ron's Diner, a grocery store; Souma Grocery, owned by Kukai Souma's family, a doctor/dentist office (Yeah, two in one), one clothing store; Olivia's Closet, a stationary store; Marge's Stationary, owned by Yaya's family, a police station, a town hall, an art gallery, a small cafe that I work at on Sundays, an elementary school, a high school; Little River High, home of the Panthers, a bookstore, a bar, a few houses, a church, a beach, and an orphanage. There's also about 11 houses in town, and about 120 on the subdivisions. There are three streets that complete Little River. There's Main Street, Abbey Road, and Penny Lane. That's it. I know that when I list it off it sounds like a lot, but if you've ever been here, you'd know what I'm talking about when I say we have the smallest town ever.

I continue to run. It was already 10 minutes past my curfew. Why is my curfew so early? Well, I'll tell you. I go to church at 6:00pm. It's either that, or being woken up at 8:00 on Sundays. My parents aren't anal, I don't even have any parents. My mother was 16 when she had me. She dropped me off at the orphanage when I was a baby. I don't remember her, and I don't intend on ever meeting her. The all-girls orphanage I live in is called The Carnation House. It's named that because the land around it is a field of wild-grown carnations. It used to be a flower shop, but around the time of the Great Depression, they turned it into an orphanage. Did I mention the orphanage is run by nuns? Yes. Nuns. Black dresses - or habits, whatever - wooden crosses, the whole ordeal. They pray, they sing, they give to charities, and they drag all of the little girls (and me) to church every Sunday. But instead, I go there on Saturdays. The orphanage is next to the church, so that makes it all the more convenient.

Not.

I have never skipped church in my whole life because it's so close to Carnation House. I've never told anyone about this, all of this. They all think I have really strict parents. But I've lived at the orphanage all my life. It's a lot of work keeping that big of a secret in such a small town.

Because I get average-mediocre grades, taught myself how to play guitar, wear 'revealing' clothing (note the quotations), and work at a cafe, the nuns think I'm a hippie.

I'm the oldest girl at the orphanage. The next oldest is an 11-year old. I try to set a good example to all of the younger girls by going to church, trying hard in school, and smiling even in the worst situations, but sometimes - like many things in my life - it's harder than it looks.

I trudge up the hidden path to the Carnation House. Sister Marie-Claire is sitting in her old rocking chair on the front porch of the big, yellow building.

"You're late." She croaks in her antique voice.

"You're old." I mutter under my breath so she won't hear me.

"Mother Superior will not tolerate this once again. If you want to have any meals, you have to come home on time to help cook them!" She scolds.

"I'm sorry Sister Marie-Claire." I apologize, hopping up the steps.

**LivLiv: I'm going to go ahead and publish each chapter after I finish them. Originally, I was going to finish writing the whole story and then post the chapters every few days so y'all wouldn't have to wait on me like last time, but I'm too excited to not share this with you.**

**Oh, and if you didn't get the memo, Utau and Ikuto are **_**NOT **_**related. There is a chance that Rima will not be present in this story.**

**Have a good one, as always!**

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	2. Masterpiece

**LivLiv: Hey readers! Today my family is getting the house ready for sale, as it's going on the market later this month. I'm moving up north by the end of the summer to go to school, and my parents are moving there, too. Life is good.**

**PLEASE READ:**

**Alright! Chapter two! I really like re-editing the stories. It's a lot of fun :)**

**Let me know what you think in a review. Reviews encourage me to keep writing, so if you want to read more of my story, please review.**

**ALSO:**

**I posted a link on my profile for the map of Little River, so if you're interested, it's just a couple clicks away!**

In Little River...

**Chapter 2: Masterpiece**

"_I am no masterpiece where innocence is painted green._

_Isn't it strange to think that you created all of me?"_

_- Meg&Dia_

I run up the old, squeaky staircase of The Carnation House to the large bedroom. It has twelve neatly made little beds lined up on the four walls. I am alone in the room. Most of the girls who stay here like to play outside or in the craft room downstairs, but I don't mind being alone. I've always been alone. The nun's raised me that way. When I was in kindergarten I didn't have friends. The nun's taught me the alphabet and the colors of the rainbow or whatever else you learn in kindergarten, here, at the orphanage. You'd think that I would have turned into a Mother Theresa for being raised by nuns instead of a 'skanky hippie', but I was a runt as a kid and grew up... _very _differently, I guess. I always scraped my knees, bad-mouthed the nuns and skipped dinner. Now I play guitar on the beach and wear 'skanky hippie' clothes. No wonder no one has adopted me. I was an adventurous kid, very independent too. Then I met Utau in middle school, and boy, were we a 'match made in heaven,' as the nuns would put it. Yeah, we're different, but we're two sides of the same coin. She's the Mayor's daughter, living a very regal life. Well, compared to mine, that is. Utau doesn't know that I live in an orphanage yet. If I told her now, she'd get mad at me for not telling her before. I'm just not comfortable with people knowing yet.

Yaya and I have always gone to the same school, but we didn't become friends until middle school. She isn't really my best friend. She has her boyfriend, Kairi. She doesn't really need Utau and me to have fun and stay sane.

I seat myself in my bed, staring at the arched ceilings. _I'm lucky. _I reassure myself. _I have a best friend, I'm alive and healthy, I'm somewhat good looking, I have dinner every night, I have a job, a warm bed to sleep in, I'm _lucky. _But why am I upset?_

I sit up, looking around the room that I already have memorized from being in it all of the time. The walls are a light pink. The 12 small, iron beds have the same white comforters covering them. At the end of each bed is a small treasure chest filled with possessions from parents, or toys from their previous home. My box has nothing like that. It has presents from Utau, jewelery, memories from school, money from my job at the cafe, makeup, CD's, and some clothes. The only thing I have left from my mother is my pink hair and yellow eyes.

The 12 beds in the room are never all occupied. We usually have 10 girls at once. Orphanages aren't that popular anymore. In "_Annie" _and "_The Cider House Rules," _the orphanages have over 50 kids living there. I guess it's because those movies are based from the 1930's and 40's. After and during the Great Depression, most people gave up their children because they didn't have any money to feed them and clothe them. Or the parents died, like mine.

The girls that live in the orphanage are rarely adopted and get dropped off here seldomly. The oldest orphan here - except for me - is 11 years old.

"Amu." a soft voice calls. I look over to see a cute girl standing in the doorway.

"Hey Misa." I reply. Misa is 5 and has the cutest blond curly hair. She was recently orphaned.

"Are you going to eat dinner?" She asks, her voice muffled from holding her blanket up to her face.

"No, I'm not very hungry." I tell her.

"That's not healthy!" She exclaims, running to my side.

"You're right. It isn't healthy! But I had a big lunch at the cafe." I reason.

"Oh... I've never been to the cafe." she crawls onto my bed and seats herself in my lap. She's very comfortable with me, and me only.

"I'll make sure to take you someday." I say cheerfully, wrapping my arms around her. "Why aren't you with the other girls?"

"They're mean." she says bluntly, the sadness clear in her voice.

"Naw! They're just shy! It isn't often that we get a new girl, they just don't know how to act."

"Amu, when did you come to Carnation House? Are you an orphan, or are you working with Mother Superior?" she asks, changing the subject slightly.

I laugh at her question. As if I'd come here on my own! "I'm an orphan too."

"When did you come here?"

"When I was a baby, my mother left me here." I answer.

"Why? Did she die?" She asks.

"She didn't want me, I think." I look away.

"I miss my mommy." she cries, with tears brimming in her eyes.

"Hey, don't worry." I hush her. "She's in heaven now; she has beautiful wings and she walks on pink clouds!" As much as I hate to say it, and especially to Mother Superior, but I really do believe in God. Not the God that the nuns tell me about, but in a different way. I tell the girls that their parents are walking on pink clouds because it's much more... happy. I believe that God doesn't let anyone be alone. You always have someone. "She's watching over you to make sure that you are smiling."

"She is?"

"Yes."

"Cool!" she laughs, smiling again. "Why don't the other girls like me? I haven't done anything wrong."

"You should have more confidence in yourself. Have you ever talked to them? Shared your toys with them?" I ask.

"N-no."

"Well now, there is your answer." I smile. "Don't let them pick on you. Just be their friend."

"Thanks Amu." She gives me a quick kiss on the cheek and skips out of the room.

**»-(¯`v´¯)-» Olivia Lively »-(¯`v´¯)-» **

I walk down the creaky steps of the Carnation House to get ready for mass at St. Andrew's, the church next to the orphanage. I attend this mass on my own. I like it better that way. Morning masses are just too _early_. And crowded. I don't want a lot of people to know I go to church and live in the orphanage. As I reach the bottom of the staircase, I can here some of the nuns in hysterics, coming from the kitchen.

"No! This should not be allowed! We have young girls here! We don't need another bad influence. We already have Amu." One of them justifies. _Yeah. Thanks._

"Mother Superior has lost her wimple! What is she thinking letting a teenage delinquent boy serve his community hours here?"

"I heard that he drove the Mayor's car off of the dock." Sister Marie Claire gossips.

"He's quite the Lothario too."

"Oh! I don't want him here! He'll disrupt and disturb the peace!"

"Community hours?" I ask the nuns, casually leaning on the door frame.

"A boy that lives in town got into some trouble, so he has been charged with 100 hours of community service, and Mother Superior volunteered to have him work here!" Sister Anne explains.

"Here? What is he going to do here?" I question, curiosity getting the better of me.

"Well, we need someone to clean out the gutters and complete other work that our old bodies can't do." Sister Marie Claire says.

Noticing the time on the clock above the stove, I nod and run out of the kitchen into the front foyer. Mother Superior is talking to Officer Dan.

"Well, it's nice to meet you. What may your name be?" she asks the boy hiding behind the cop. I can't get a direct view of him.

He says nothing, so I stretch my neck to see who it is. He lifts his hood, and I see his face. I might go into cardiac arrest because standing on the porch of the Carnation House, is Ikuto Tsukiyomi.

"Oh, Hello Amu." He greets with a smirk.

"You know this boy?" Mother Superior asks, clearly unimpressed that I'm acquainted with a young offender.

"Unfortuantely." I answer. She looks shocked.

"Amu! Be more polite to our guests!" She scolds.

"He's not a guest! He's a criminal! You are insane for letting him here!" I whine.

"You better get to church and hope that God will forgive you!"

I storm off of the front porch, pushing Ikuto out of the way. I follow the tree-lined path to the church, frustrated and tired.

**LivLiv: Have a good one, as always!**

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	3. Concrete Angel

**LivLiv: Thank you to all those who reviewed! Again, If you want the map of Little River, the link is on my profile! Cheers! Enjoy the story.**

In Little River...

**Chapter 3: Concrete Angel**

_'Through the wind an the rain, she stands hard as a stone in a world that she can rise above. But her dreams give her wings, and she flies to a place where she's loved. Concrete Angel."_

_-Martina McBride_

_Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, CRAP! He _saw _me. He'll tell _everyone _at school that I live in an orphanage. I'll never hear the end of it. This is a _disaster.

I open the small church's door and step into the quiet, dark room. No one was in there. I let out my held breath and start lighting a few candles on the alter and walls. The whole place slowly lit up, and I could feel magic swirling around me. Taking a seat in one of the long wooden pews and placing my pillow under my knees, kneeling, I began to 'pray.' When I was younger, the nuns would take me to church every Sunday morning, and if I had been 'naughty' over the week, the nuns wouldn't let me use the pillow, making my knees turn a gross brown and yellow colour.

Because I was to direct my own mass by coming here the evening before Sunday, I began to sing to myself as a starter. I dropped my eyelids and let the room absorb me.

"_Lamb of God you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us."_

"Boo." A voice coos.

"AHHH!" I shriek. I turn around to see Ikuto sitting behind me. Of course, he has his infamous smirk showcased on his heavenly face. "What do you want?" I ask coldly.

"You have a nice voice, Mary." he comments, ignoring my question.

"Don't call me Mary. And thank you."

"So Amu Hinamori goes to church. That's unexpected." he teases.

"Why?"

"Because you're... well..." he begins, not knowing how to explain.

"Trampy? Tough?" I try to find the word for him.

"Yes. Are you helping out at the orphanage too? What did you do? Or is this for high school volunteering hours?"

"No." I answer quietly. How can he be so dumb? Isn't it obvious that I live there?

"But you-" he starts to say.

"I've lived there my entire life."

"Oh." It's quiet for a while after I spilled.

"My mother had me when she was sixteen. She didn't want to keep me so she dropped me off here. Never heard from her, never wanted to." he remained quiet while I told my story. "Don't you dare tell anyone at school, or I will make sure that you can never have children." I threaten.

"Ok!" he confirms. "It's kind of... sad."

"So Ikuto Tsukiyomi has feelings. That's unexpected." I reply sarcastically.

"Yeah. Duh." he says, poking my back from the pew behind me. "I just can't imagine... growing up there. I couldn't last a day. But I guess I'll have to. My parents are making me stay until I'm done paying back to the community."

"Why are you being so nice to me?" I ask.

"Well, you may not know this, but I'm not that bad of a guy. And you spark some of my interest. Unlike all of the other girls at school." he laughs.

"Because I'm an orphan." I say bluntly.

"Partly." he laughs again.

"Hmm. Thanks. I always thought you were some shallow playboy. Delinquent. Bad boy. You know."

"I am. Around dumb people. But I can tell that you're smart. You can see behind my pathetic act."

"Act?" I question.

"There is nothing interesting about Little River. I've grown up here, and I'm bored. I've always been. I've never told anyone that. Every girl in this town has fallen in love with me at one point in time. Except you. Because you can see that I'm a fake. I want to get out of Little River, and meet new people."

"Yeah. I want to go away too. I've always wanted to run from the Carnation House, but I don't know where to go. There's a whole world out there." I look up to the front of the church. The altar stands in the centre of the room, and the candles burn, sharing a beautiful glow on the walls.

Suddenly, I could feel something moving up my leg. It finds its way to my waist, making me shiver. Is Ikuto feeling me up? I can't say anything. My mouth is jammed shut.

"Ikuto! Are you sick?! This is a church!" I manage to say, but before I can tell him to leave me alone, my mouth is covered with his, strong arms are pressing against my back and neck. His tongue explored my mouth. I must admit, he's a pretty good kisser. My mind started buzzing in that moment. Is everything he told me complete bullshit? Is he just the same, shallow playboy? I can't believe I just poured my heart out to him.

His arms around my waist, he pulled me closer - as if we weren't close enough. Our bodies start leaning to the ground. I have to stop this. I pull my arm back, and in one motion, I slap him in the face.

"What the hell was that for?!" he exclaims. He looks very hurt. Not from the pain of the slap, but from the slap itself.

"You can't just do that! You're such a pig!" I shout.

"I thought you would like it." he looks arounud him, confused. His expression changes into a smirk, of course. "It is me after all."

"You kiss like a dog. Now leave." I lie.

"Aww Amu, don't be harsh."

"Out!" I yell, pointing to the back of the church.

"Fine." He gets up, his footsteps growing quiet as I turn back to the altar. The church door opens and closes.

I close my eyes, too, and begin to pray to myself. After a few minutes, a voice speaks up.

"Amu, hello again." A voice greets. I know who it is. His voice is as gentle as a raindrop falling on a rose petal. But it's strong like a hurricane at the same time.

"Hello Father Tsukasa." I say.

"Is something troubling you?"

"Just normal stuff. The nuns don't like me, my mom doesn't like me, I keep lying to my friends, and soon, they won't like me." I rant.

"Amu, I will tell you something I wish I knew when I was your age. It's your life. Be what you want to be, do what you want to do. God gave you this as a gift. You are merely just a rock being carried by a stream. A stream that has many paths. You choose your own destiny. Do what you honestly believe is right, and in time, it won't matter. We'll all end up in the same place." he wises.

"Thank you, Father Tsukasa. But why, when everything goes wrong, everything else becomes wrong too?"

"The laws of nature, I suppose. On a high mountain, if one boulder is out of place, it will come rolling down. This leaves every other boulder out of balance. It is only expected that the rocks will come tumbling down." he explains philosophically.

I think about that. Father Tsukasa really likes metaphores. But what he said was true; I do create my own destiny.

"Thank you, Father."

"I guess that's the end of your hour. See you next week. Or maybe I'll stop by the Cafe tomorrow." he says.

"That would be great." I stand and begin to make my way out of the church.

"Oh, and tell your male friend that he is welcome back anytime." he calls after me.

If you have ever seen an emergency exit sign, you know, the ones they have at some doors in public places? You know how they are red, but they glow, too? That was the exact colour my face turned after he said that.

"Bye Father Tsukasa."

**LivLiv: Yay! So what did you think? Good? Bad? Stupid? Ugly? Write a review or shoot me a message!**

**Next Chapter: He's a Tramp.**

**All my chapters are song titles. And again, if you want the map, it's on my profile! :)Bye bye!**

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	4. He's a Tramp

**LivLiv: You guys really don't know how much joy I get out of your reviews. I am immensely content that people actually read my stories. Here's my new chapter.**

In Little River...

**Chapter Four: He's a Tramp**

_He's a tramp. He's a scoundrel. He's a rounder. He's a cad. He's a tramp, but I love him. Yes, even I have got it pretty bad._

_- Lady and the Tramp_

I walk back to Carnation House, my face still completely red from the embarrassment that Father Tsukasa had heaped upon me. But... it was also Ikuto's kiss that sent me through the roof of redness - if there is such a thing. Maybe Utau is right. _Maybe Ikuto really does like me. But...do I like him?_

I smile thinking that maybe I do. He is... could be... a really nice guy. He just pretends to be bad.

"He... kissed me!" I say out loud. I couldn't believe it happened. I had to say it out loud.

"Who kissed you?!" a wicked voice asks. Mother Superior.

"Um... Jesus." I tell her. She glares at my witty smile.

"Oh. Good." She comments, walking away.

I follow her inside to the main room. In there, the nuns are explaining all of the Carnation House rules while Ikuto sits there, staring at the floor. When I walk in, he looks up. I don't know if he's embarrassed or smirking, but I can swear that there's a light pink color across his cheeks.

"And, I will not tolerate any physical actions between you and anyone in Carnation House while you are staying here." Mother chides. She looks at Ikuto in disgust, as if he had just committed all of the 7 deadly sins. But no, he's only committed a few of them. I guess she knows that. "And that goes for you too, Amu!" she says to me.

"When have I ever brought a boy home?" I ask her.

"Yes..." She turns back to Ikuto. "Your room is upstairs. We have an extra room next to the main bedroom, which is also out-of-bounds to you."

"I understand." He confirms. It didn't sound like he actually understood.

I roll my eyes and leave the room. It's Saturday night; I have homework to finish, and I have to go to work early in the morning. My watch reads 8:30pm.

**»-(¯`v´¯)-» Olivia Lively »-(¯`v´¯)-» **

I finished my homework, and I'm ready to sleep. It's about 10:00pm. Early enough. As I pass the spare room, Ikuto's room, my blood started to course through my veins. My heart began an entire gymnastics routine and jumped up into my throat! Hypothetically speaking, of course.

Do I really like him? Or am I scared because he knows my secret? Or is it just because he is _really _good looking? Sure he may be a delinquent, but he said that he was more than that. His face was so honest and pained. I've gotta believe him. I should give him a chance.

I peek my head inside his door. He's lying down on his bed... reading a bible.

"Oh my God, what are you reading?" I laugh.

"There is nothing else to do." he drones on, blankly. "What were you doing?" he asks.

"Homework."

"Oh. No thanks." he says. He won't look up from his 'book'. Silence ensues, so I wait patiently, leaning on the door frame like I usually do.

"Are you... ignoring me?"

"Isn't that better?"

"Well, no. Do you want to go do something?" I ask.

"With you? Not really."

"Um. Did I miss something?"

"Nope."

"Why are you being so...mean?" I wonder out loud.

"Well you weren't being an angel earlier on." He wits.

"What do you mean? When I slapped you?" I ask, confusion setting in.

"I don't really care Amu. It's obvious that you would much rather go on suffering." What? Suffering?

"I don't understand." I'm so confused.

"I don't care that you slapped me, but I thought that after all of these years of hate towards me, that you were being nice for once. Not that I care."

"Well, I thought that you were actually acting human, but instead, you ruined that."

"It doesn't matter. Why don't you just go pray or something. Whatever freaks like you do." He insults.

"Um. Ouch. I was warming up to you, but now, I don't think so." I leave the room, fed up.

"Amu, come back." He says, and for some reason, I actually go back. "You want to go somewhere? Let's go."

"Oh my God! I'm tired of your mood swings!" I rant.

"Is that a no?" he questions.

"No."

"What?"

"Yes?"

Ikuto sighs, laughing. "Do you want to go somewhere?"

"Yes?"

"Let's go." He grabs my arm, pulling me further into his room and closing the door. I'm scared that he might do something perverted, but instead, he walks to his window. In one swift movement, he lifts the latch, pushing the glass up, and swinging his leg over the pane. "You coming?" He looks back at me.

"I think I am." I agree. He hops out of his two story window and lands with his feet. Everything about him is so graceful. I follow his movement, but instead, I find myself about to fall on my ass. The wind beneath me blows violently as I fall. I close my eyes, preparing myself for pain. When I land, however, I'm on the ground, Ikuto caught me.

"U-um... Thanks." Thank God it's nighttime because my face is as red as a tomato. He just smirks. I think he can tell that I blushed. He puts me down as I dust myself off, from habit. I fall a lot.

"You're kind of a spazz, I hope you know." he laughs.

"Yeah." I manage, still shaken from almost dying. "Where are we going?"

"The only place we can go is the beach. No where else is open around 10:30."

"Alright." he leads the way down the hidden church path. When we reach Penny Lane, he turns around to see if I'm still following. _Of course I am_, I muse to myself. We pass the cafe, the bar, which is now lip up and alive with all of the men in Little River watching the football game.

We pass Benjamin Inn, then Ron's Diner, the only place that serves a really cheap meal, other than the grocery store. We head onto main street and pass the Elementary school and the Health Clinic, where I stopped abruptly. We were infront of the Mayor's Villa.

"Why are you stopping?" he wondered.

"This is Utau's house." I state.

"Yeah. She's the mayor's daughter." he said, as if I didn't know.

"Yes, but... what if she sees me." I said, not questioning it, just stating.

"Who cares?" He laughs again.

"You don't, obviously." I look at him. The beach isn't far in front of us. Why the hell not, I muse. The moon reflects off the ocean water. "Let's just go." I say. We continue to walk. The beach is completely empty except for a few seagulls, a shack, and of course, Ikuto and me.

"It's pretty."

"Yeah." he says. "So... Who do you have dreams about?"

"Huh?" I was transfixed on the moving water.

"I was thinking you'd fall for the class president, Tadase, or my friend, Kuukai." he explained awkwardly, but somewhat sexily.

"Maybe both." I smirk at him. "What about you? Do you like Saaya?" I laugh at the thought. Yeah right.

"Yep." he smirks back at me. "No, I like you." I just laugh.

"Funny. You are really funny." I turn my eyes onto his. He looks kind of... serious. "You're joking, right?"

"Yeah." he chuckled, dropping onto the sand. "I'm just joking." he looks back up at me. As graceful as he always has been, he pulled me on top of him.

"What are you doing?!" I shout.

"Quiet! You'll wake the neighbours." he laughs, closing the distance between our mouths and kissing me again. I push him away and run from the beach as fast as I can.

If I was so excited for this, why do I keep running away?

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	5. Sunday, Bloody Sunday

**LivLiv: The map's still on my profile if you're interested! I'm feeling nice today, so I decided I'd upload another chapter for you! Two in one day! Enjoy, folks.**

In Little River...

**Chapter Five: Sunday, Bloody Sunday**

_And the battle's just begun.  
There's many lost, but tell me who has won. The trench is dug within our hearts; and mothers, children, brothers, sisters torn apart. _

_Sunday, Bloody Sunday._

- U2

My alarm rings loudly at 6:30am.

I quickly shut it off so I don't wake the other girls. Morning came too soon!

I guess that's because I went to sleep at 1:00am. I stretch and yawn my way down the stairs and into the kitchen so I can feed myself before work. No one's here. The girls don't wake up this early and the nuns are probably in the church. Excellent.

I open the cupboard holding all of the dry foods. I don't have to search for what I want; I have a routine. On the bottom shelf, there's a multitude of healthy cereal. I pull each box out of the cupboard like I do every morning. At the back of the cupboard, I installed a hidden section when I was 8 that only I know about. I pry the small door open, letting it reveal Lucky Charms and Cinnamon Toast Crunch. I'm in a cinnamon kind of mood this morning. After I put all of the cereal back, I grab a bowl, spoon and the milk.

"Where's you get that from?" A voice asks. I drop everything in my hands. It's only Ikuto though, and I don't get very nervous around him anymore. The coast is still clear. "I have been looking everywhere for something unhealthy, but I gave up and settled for raisin bran." He explains kindly. Woah... Kindly?

"You know, your constant mood swings are giving me headaches." I say to him, pointing my spoon at him and frowning.

"How sad. Let me fix that." he smirks and inches closer to me.

"You take one step, and I'll kick your ass." I threat. "Have you been up long?"

"I never went to sleep."

"Ehh? That's not very healthy. Now you can't have any Cinnamon Toast Crunch!" I declare, my own smirk coming back.

"Aw come on! First you slap me in church, then you ditch me on the beach, then I couldn't get any sleep last night because I was thinking of what I had done that could've possibly make you dumb enough to reject me twice. So, I think I deserve some sugar." he elabortates.

"If you meant 'sugar' as in the Cinnamon Toast Crunch kind of sugar, then I guess you could have some. But if you were being perverted, then I will have to ask you to leave." I wit, half-serious.

"Hm. Never crossed my mind. Now give me the damn cereal." he reached for the cereal, which was behind my back. "Oops." he utters as he accidentally pushes me to the ground. We both fall on top of each other.

"Get off me, fatty!" I laugh.

"Fatty? I'm not fat!" he defends.

"No seriously, get off, I'm going to be late for work."

"Ah yes, the cafe." he remembers. "See you later." he gets off of me and takes the Cinnamon Toast Crunch, muttering a quick "Thanks."

**»-(¯`v´¯)-» Olivia Lively »-(¯`v´¯)-» **

I put on my new uniform for work, reminicing about my morning with Ikuto. Suu, the owner of the cafe, decided we need to have a more girly uniform. I think it's far too overdone. There is a white under dress that has a very large circumference, to start. The dress ends at mid-thigh length, being black, with a white _frilly _apron. And to finish it off, we have to wear knee socks. With lace.

I sigh. There's nothing I can really do about it. It is embarrassing, but I've been through worse. I walk down the Carnation House's steps, trying to avoid Ikuto. It was already 7:30am, and I don't want to be late. I'm also wearing something incredibly humiliating and would die of shame if he saw me.

But of course, my bad luck streak continues and Ikuto sees me. He laughs. Really hard.

"What is _that_? Did you get a new uniform?" he smirks after he stopped laughing.

"Yes." I run away. "Leave me alone!" I whine, but in a joking tone.

**»-(¯`v´¯)-» Olivia Lively »-(¯`v´¯)-» **

Utau was already taking orders when I arrived at the Cafe. It's actually called Mitzi's Cafe. Even though I've been working here for two years, I don't know who Mitzi is.

"Hey Amu! OOH! The uniform looks great with your pink hair!" Utau squeals once she spots me.

"Thanks." I mutter.

"Oh Amu, That looks just lovely on you. Marvin, doesn't it look lovely?" Gurdy, a regular here, says. Gurdy is an old lady who's lived in Little River since she was born. Marvin, her husband, has too. They come to the cafe almost everyday and are just about the cutest old couple I have ever seen. They ask me to call them Grandma and Grandpa because they are the two of the few people who know about my living in the orphanage. Which is remarkable for such a small town. They understand it's a secret, thank goodness.

"It looks wonderful." Marvin compliments, smiling.

"Thanks. What can I get you two?" I ask.

"Two black coffees, and an apple danish." Marvin orders.

"Coming up." Marvin always orders for Gurdy, to be a 'gentleman.' So cute.

"Hello Amu, how are you?" Marge, another frequent customer, asks. Marge is Yaya's mom. She owns the stationary shop. "Oh, Yaya's not here today, she caught a cold. Poor thing." She adds.

"Oh that's too bad, tell her I said hi. Have you ordered yet?"

"Yes, I have. Thank you. And I will." she smiles warmly at me.

"No, no, no!" A voice cried. I already know who that is. It's Dr. Yankem, the town's dentist. He's having his usual fight with Dr. Hurtyo, the town doctor. They both work at the Little River Health Clinic. "Dental hygiene is just as important!" They have the same fight everyday. I keep walking on into the kitchen. Inside is Suu Baker, my kind boss, and her two friends, Miki Graham and Ran Lee. Miki owns the Little River Art Gallery, while Ran Lee is the only gym teacher here.

"Amu! It's been a while, How have you been?" Ran asks.

"I'm great. How's the Achilles tendon?" I ask. Ran recently hurt her Achilles tendon.

"It's fine, Dr. Hurtyo really knows his stuff. We're lucky to have him." I've always hated Dr. Hurtyo, especially as a kid. His name only emphasizes the pain he inflicts on people. Same with Dr. Yankem. I have always wondered if they changed their names so it would be funny. Yeah, hilarious. Real funny. NOT!

"Lucky as a black cat." I mutter. I go to the coffee pot and pour two cups for Marvin and Gurdy. On my way out, I grab an apple danish.

"Here you are!" I said to Marvin and Gurdy, placing the food in front of them.

"Thank you Amu, you are such a great waitress." Gurdy replies.

"That's my job!" I laugh. They laugh along with me.

I quickly look around for any other people who need to be served when I saw a little old lady sitting alone.

"What can I get you?" I ask her politely, approaching her table.

"Well I'll be God damned. Is that really you? Rosie?" she asks bewilderdly.

"Um, I'm sorry. My name is Amu." I tell her awkwardly.

"Amu. You must be Rosie's daughter!" she squeals, excited.

"Um, no my parents... my mom's name isn't Rosie." I explain. At least I don't know if it was Rosie. The nun's never mentioned it.

"I'm sorry. You look a lot like my daughter. She has the same pink hair. She ran away when she was 16. Never heard from her since then. I'm sorry." she apologizes.

"Really?" I ask, sitting down in the seat next to her. Of course I'm interested.

"Amu! Get back to work!" Suu calls from the kitchen.

"I'm sorry. Can we... Come back next Sunday. I have another shift then."

**LivLiv: Can you guess who that was? Hm. Maybe. Maybe not. Gurdy is the name of an old woman that is always brought up at my family reunions, as she was so crazy. Thought I'd add that, haha.**

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	6. High School Confidential

**LivLiv: Hey guys, I'm sorry for the cliff hanger.**

In Little River

**Chapter Six: High School Confidential**

_You can hear her stilettos click. I want her so much I feel sick  
The girl can't help it, she really can't help it now  
It's like a high school, high school confidential_

_-_Rough Trade

Manic Monday. It's Gotta Be Monday. Both are very good songs, but none of which I'd like to wake up to. I wouldn't like to wake up at all, to be perfectly honest. Sadly, I have no choice. Monday morning is my least favorite day. It always seems to be the longest throughout the week.

The Bangles blast through my speakers at quarter to seven. That gives me time for a shower, breakfast, and a homework check. I slam my palm on the alarm clock button so I don't wake the lucky girls who could sleep in until 7:30.

I begrudgingly get out of bed and dress in my _mandatory _saddle shoes and school uniform. I don't know why we have a uniform at my school seeing as though our town is so small. I pull my hair into a headband that says: "God is our Creator!" which Mother Superior had given to me for my 8th birthday. Don't worry, I only wear this until I turn onto main street, where I change into a pair of black stilettos, roll up my red plaid skirt, and unbutton the three top buttons of my blouse. Living with the nuns has very strict rules about 'exposing God-given areas'.

I walk down the stairs into the kitchen just in time to see Ikuto chugging the last bit of milk. From the carton, if I may add. Ikuto chokes on the milk, letting it spray all over the kitchen walls.

"What are you _wearing_?!" he laughs between coughs.

"My uniform." I tell him with attitude, resting my hands on my hips.

"From what dimension? The 'Sister Act' planet?" he continues to laugh.

"If I wore what I usually do, the nuns would go nuts." I mutter.

"Oh. I guess I should pull up my pants and tuck in my shirt!" he says sarcastically with a smirk.

"Actually, that wouldn't be a bad idea." I look at his outfit. He's wearing the school's white uniform dress shirt, a red plaid tie loose around his neck, his blue hair ruffled as if he hadn't brushed it, and his underwear sticking out of his pants. "Nice underwear." I laugh, blushing slightly. I hope he doesn't notice that. His underwear is red plaid, matching the school uniform colors.

"Hey, it matches." he defends.

"Ikuto, brush your hair and pull up your pants or I'll do it for you!" Sister Marie-Claire scolds. She stomps over to him and yanks his tie tight. Ikuto admitted defeat and fixed his pants before Sister Marie-Claire had a chance to touch him anymore than she already had.

"I think it's time to go." I interrupted. It was already 7:20.

"Finally!" Ikuto sighs, running away from the nuns. He grabs my arm and leads me out the door.

We turn down the road onto down the highway, keeping silent for a few minutes.

"So how was yesterday?" I ask him, slicing through the quiet.

"I was cleaning the gutters. It looked like they hadn't been cleaned since the orphanage was built." he grimmaced, remembering his experience with the gutters.

"Oh they haven't." I laugh at him. "Did you meet the girls?"

"Only a few. The only one I can remember is... Misa. Yeah that was her name."

"Oh yeah? I like her." I think out loud.

"Yeah, she talked about you a lot." Ikuto remembers with a smile, for once. "How long has she been there?"

"Only a month." I answer sadly.

Ikuto stayed quiet after that.

"Don't worry about it, she's recovering fast for a five year old."

Still nothing.

"Oh, stop for a second." We were about to turn onto main street, so I drop my bag on the ground. I start rolling up my skirt and unbuttoning my blouse.

"What are you doing?" Ikuto says sadistically.

"Oh my god! You're such a pervert!" I scold him. I slip on my heels, take out my head band, and flip my hair back. I look at Ikuto now, his eyes were wide.

"What?" I ask, frowning.

"Nothing." he says simply, ruffling his own hair and loosening his tie. I avert my eyes as he pulls his pants down a bit.

"So... how was work at the cafe?" he asks, trying to make conversation.

"I..." I was about to mention my thought-to-be-Grandmother, but I wondered if I should tell him. Ah hell, I'll go with it. "I think... I met my grandmother."

"Your what? I thought you were an orphan!" he exclaims.

"Remember? I told you that my mom dropped me off here when she was sixteen."

"Oh yeah. So your grandmother... Are you sure?"

"I don't know, but she thinks I'm her daughter, well, my mother. Or maybe someone else. Yeah, I don't know."

"You should talk to her more."

"Yeah, I think so too. I told her to come back next Sunday." I tell him.

"Good. Oh! We're at school. See you in Science." he says, but before he walks off, he plants _another _kiss on my lips. "Bye, babe." he smirks and jogs to meet up with his friends who are whooping and cheering. That bastard.

"EEEEEEEEEEEE!" A girl squeals. It was Utau, running toward me. She's wearing a similar pair of stilettos, which make her look as tall as a supermodel. "I knew it! I knew it! I knew it! He likes you and you like him!" she continues to squeal, playfully slapping me.

"No, he followed me to school and harassed me." Which was partly true.

"Your children will be beautiful! Oh! And now Kukai and I can finally be together! Tell Ikuto to give him a good word for me." she winks.

"I'm going to class." I mutter.

"Oh! Don't be embarrassed!"

**»-(¯`v´¯)-» Olivia Lively »-(¯`v´¯)-» **

After school, Utau had invited me to have a sleepover. I went back to the orphanage with Ikuto to get my clothes and such. It's going to be a fun nght!

"Sister Marie Claire!" I call.

"Yes, Amu?" she asks.

"I'm going to stay at Utau Hoshina's tonight. Is that ok with you?"

"The Mayor's daughter? All right." she agrees.

"You're leaving me with them? How can you be so cold?" Ikuto, who was standing behind me, asks.

"Yes. That's for kissing me without permission!" I tell him quietly so the sisters won't hear.

"I thought we were passed that stage." Ikuto smirks.

"Um... No." I run up the stairs and grab the first set of clothes I see.

When I finally got to Utau's, she was waiting outside for me.

"Ok, you have some _major _explaining to do! Tell me all about Ikuto!" She began to squeal again.

"There's nothing much to talk about." I tell her.

"Ok, Amu, he _kissed _you and you didn't beat him up. There must be something going on."

"I didn't do anything because I got used to him harassing me." I say, then realizing that I told her way too much.

"What? Used to it!? You're leaving something out!" she accuses. She looks at the clothes I'm holding. "Hey what does that say?" she asks, looking at a yellow pajama shirt. She takes it out of my hands and reads the text on it. I don't know what shirt she's holding, so I shrugged it off. Until she looked at me in disbelief.

"What?" I ask.

"Your shirt. 'I'm not an orphan, I'm a child of God. The Carnation House Orphanage.'? What's that supposed to mean?!" she exclaims.

_Shit._ "I...can explain?" 

**LivLiv: Oooh! Another cliff hanger. Sorry guys. But this is already 2 ½ pages, that's uaually my limit for each chapter. Don't worry about it, I'll update soon.**

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	7. Hug Me

**LivLiv: So as I'm re-editing and writing this story, I'm seeing all of my old author's notes. I found out that I **_**was**_** 14 when I started writing this. So I started it 5 years ago. Shit. Pardon my French.**

In Little River...

**Chapter Seven: Hug Me**

_I'm a girl learning to act as planned. I was programmed to be Catholic but I ran.  
I changed my race; I changed my name; I prayed to them, "Please, what is brave?"  
I am loyal because I was simply raised that way._

_-_Meg & Dia

So I told her. Everything. That I never had parents, that I've been living at the orphanage since.. forever, and that I am an idiot for not telling her.

"I'm so sorry I never told you, Utau." I apologized solemnly.

"Yeah. I am too." she's wiping her tears away with the back of her hand. "How could you lie to me? After all we've been through!" she shouts.

"I didn't want to worry you!"

"Worry me? _Worry me?_ Really Amu? Now I'm worried about what other things you've been keeping from me. Maybe you already slept with Iku-"

"Shut Up! Seriously! I never tell anyone about this!" I interrupt her.

"You shut up. I don't want to hear anymore lies. Go home... Or wherever." she dismisses.

I turn away fast and run back up Main Street until I can see the short cut to the orphanage. I climb up a the wall and leap into my bedroom window. By then, it was raining outside and I was already soaking wet. I hug my knees and begin to cry.

"Amu? Are you ok?" Misa asks quietly. She was the only one in the room.

I don't answer her, I just continue crying.

"I'll go get Ikuto!" She declares.

A little later, Ikuto enters the room, obviously forgetting the rule about him not being allowed in the girl's room. That, or he doesn't really care.

"Thanks Misa, I think you should go eat dinner for now." He pats her head and walks closer to my bed. "Amu? What's wrong?"

"U-Utau found out that I-I'm an orph-phan, and now sh-she hates me!" I sob, hugging my knees closer to my stomach.

"Oh, she doesn't hate you." He soothes. He takes a seat on my bed beside me and wraps his arms around me. I lean into him.

"She does. Because I lied to her. She thinks I'm a liar. And I am."

"You're not a liar, you're just a person who's had a crappy go at life." He starts taking off my jacket. "Here, you're going to catch a cold. Let's get you changed."

"I think I can change myself." I say with attitude.

"Right. Well I'll be outside your door if you need me." He offers.

I get changed into a t-shirt and shorts, what I usually wear to sleep. I invite Ikuto in again, and we sit on my bed. He then holds me in his arms without doing anything perverted, surprisingly.

"I think... I think I'm going to run away. I don't belong here."

"What? No, Amu. I know what it's like on the streets. It's dangerous, and you have no where else to go." he tries to reason.

"Please don't stop me. Don't tell me what I should and shouldn't do." I whine. I hide my face in his chest.

"Ok. But you have to call me every night. I'll give you some money."

"I can't accept your money."

"This isn't for you, this is for me. So take it now as a favor to me." he says cockily.

"Ok." I confirm. He helps me pack a small bag, gives me money, and then kisses my forehead.

"See you on the flipside, kid." he says, punching my shoulder before I jumped out of the window.

**»-(¯`v´¯)-» Olivia Lively »-(¯`v´¯)-» **

17, and no where to go. Where the hell am I supposed to go? I'm walking down the highway, looking for a sign. Any sign, one from the heavens or one lodged into the ground. I look into the distance for one.

"Morning Side Hotel." I read out loud. Good enough. I run toward the sign to see where to go. "15km ahead. Well isn't that marvelous! I guess I'm going to have to break the rules." I stick my thumb out, waiting for a car to pull over.

One actually is. It's a shiny black car. "Hey there, you need a ride?" The man inside asks. I look in the car. The man is about 30-35. His hair's slicked back and he has a sadistic grin on his face that smells of alcohol.

"U-um No. I was just playing." Better safe than sorry.

"Whatever. Go get soaked." he says coldly, pulling on to the road again. Ikuto was right. This place is dangerous. I continue walking up the highway, without hitch-hiking.

Hours pass without any signs or directions. It's about 2:00am by now, I'm not sure, but I'm guessing it is. I don't have a phone or anything like that. Finally, I see that up the road there's a little driveway. I run closer to it, hope rising within me. The road or driveway is very long, I can tell even from here, and there are dead leaves covering it. An instinct or something rose within me, and I don't know where it came from, but it said that I should walk down the road. So I started making my way down it. The road's surrounded by forest, but I'm not scared.

About an hour later, I can see a house. It's a two story house, and it is very old. The blue paint is chipping. There's a creaky front porch covered in leaves with a swing chair to the right. It looks a bit like the Carnation house, but it's much smaller. I notice a small truck parked beside the house. I notice that there's a mysterious air surrounding the house, but it's sort of... comfortable. I walk up the old porch and knock on the door, holding my breath. I wait. And wait. And wait.

An old woman opens the door wearing a black nightgown, and her hair is very long and gray, almost reaching her waist. At first I don't recognize her, and prepare myself to share my story about running away, asking for a ride or directions to the next town, but then I see that it's the same woman from the cafe I had served yesterday. The one I thought was my grandmother.

"I-I'm sorry to bother you, but I saw the road, and I needed a place to stay." I explain.

"No need to explain yourself dear, come on in or you'll catch a cold." she worries. "You're the girl from Little River." she remarks.

"Um.. yeah."

"Come, come! I'll light the fire and make you some tea!" she invites in her withered old voice.

"Thank you." I manage.

Her house has hardwood floors throughout. The walls have a faded floral wallpaper that consists of blue and pink flowers. The furniture is blue and pink too. The entry way or foyer - whatever - is the kitchen. There are small cabinets and counters on the right, and on the left there's a small breakfast nook. There's a big staircase that stretches from left to right across the back wall. In the living room, she has a fireplace with two wing-backed chairs strategically placed in front of it.

She lights the fire and wraps a blanket around my shivering body. I sit in one of the wing backed arm chairs that was placed in front of the fireplace and wait until she made her way over with a cup of steaming tea. "This will warm you up." she says. "Tell me, what's your name, child?"

"My name is Amu Hinamori."

"Oh what a pretty name. Your parents must be proud of such a pretty girl. But why have you run away?" she asks. How did she know that I had run away?

"How did... never mind." I start. "I don't have any parents. I'm an orphan." I tell her.

"You live at Carnation House." she says, sipping her cup of green tea. She seems to know a lot about me.

"Yeah... um... How do you know so much about me?" I ask. She didn't answer. Instead, the stands up from her chair and walks over to the fireplace. She then picks up a picture frame that was set on the mantle.

"This is me," she points to a younger looking version of herself. "And this is my daughter, Rosie." She says, pointing to a little girl. "I lost her when she was 16. She had run away from home. She didn't want what I could give her. I had heard rumors that she had gone to Little River. I kept my distance for a long time, but I couldn't anymore! After almost 2 decades you tend to get antsy!" She laughs. "I decided I'd go see Little River. When I went to the cafe, I saw her. But, it was you. You're 17, yes?" she asks.

"Yes." I answer her.

"Hm. And you have the same hair as my Rosie did. Not a very common colour you come by. Do you remember your parents?" she was wondering the same thing I did. Not that I had parents, but if I was her granddaughter. I look up at her.

"When my mother was 16, she dropped me off at the orphanage. That's all I know." I tell her. She smiles at me.

"My name is Avonia Winter." she stops talking and sips her tea, gazing at the fire. "Well, I have another bed upstairs where you can sleep if you'd like. It used to be my daughter's when she lived here." she tells me.

"Thank you." I say, but I really can't thank her enough.

I walk up the narrow, steep steps of Avonia's home. There's a small hallway with hardwood floors. The walls are a light blue, and there are three doors. The first one is a small, but neat bathroom, The second is Avonia's room, because the blankets are pulled back. The third room has red and white floral wallpaper. The floor and furniture are covered in a small layer of dust, but the bed is inviting and clean. I get changed and let sleep take me over into a place where anything can happen. Good and bad.

**»-(¯`v´¯)-» Olivia Lively »-(¯`v´¯)-» **

It is bad. Darkness surrounds me as I fight through a forest of some kind. Twigs scratch my arms until the forest opens up to a small field. The skies are red and the trees bare. But it's summer for some reason, because I'm wearing a dress. Which is strange, because I don't wear dresses. The dress has a black and white pattern on it. My pink hair was grown out to my tail bone, and my face has a look of distress. In my arms, there's a baby. Even though I can't see the baby, I could tell it was one because it's wrapped in a pink blanket and there was loud crying. My nightmare stopped, and I was at Carnation House. I was crying and talking to Mother Superior. Then I woke up.

**LivLiv: Oh! I wonder what happens next! I'm excited! And yes, please**

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	8. Mysterious Ways

**LivLiv: I CAN'T SLEEP BECAUSE OF MY BRAIN INJURY AND IT'S MAKING ME VERY VERY UPSET LIKE COME ON I HAVE A DOCTOR'S APPOINTMENT TOMORROW AND I NEED 6 HOURS OF SLEEP AND IT'S ALREADY A QUARTER TO 3 IN THE MORNING. If you read this, say so in your review. If you don't, I will be able to tell! Here's Chapter Eight! Yay! This one is very dramatic. And remember: tell me if you read my dumb paragraphs in your review. The code word is fish.**

In Little River...

**Chapter Eight: Mysterious Ways**

_She'll be there when you hit the ground_

_It's all right, it's all right, it's all right_

_She moves in mysterious ways._

-U2

I wake up in a huff. Shaken from the dream, I look over at the clock beside the bed which reads 6:30am. I guessed Avonia could be awake. I tip-toe down the hall and peek into her room. Sure enough, her bed is made neatly, so I decide I should make mine. I also decide that I should call Ikuto today.

Downstairs, Avonia's cooking breakfast. Eggs and toast.

"Oh good morning, Cherry Blossom! Do you mind if I call you that? You're hair is just so pink! Everyone called me Cherry Blossom when I was a young girl. No one had pink hair back then except for me. Now you can buy a bottle of hair dye and paint your hair pink." she jokes. "Did you want to use the phone?" I wonder how she knew that. Is she a mind reader? I wouldn't be surprised.

"Yes, I just want to call my friend and let him know I'm ok." I tell her.

"Alright, it's beside the arm chairs." she says. I walk back to the living room and pick up the phone, dialing his cell phone number that he has given to me so many times before, but I never called it. He picks up on the first ring.

"Amu?"

"Hey." I greet.

"Where are you?" he wonders. I look over at Avonia. Could she really be my grandmother? She isn't paying attention, so I tell him.

"The woman from the cafe. I'm staying with her. I'm about 5 hours away walking distance."

"5 hours?! How do you get yourself into these messes?" he cries.

"You tell me." I laugh.

"When are you coming back?"

"I don't know. Maybe Thursday or Friday."

"OK. Call me everyday. I know you think she's your grandmother, but she's still a stranger."

"Yeah, yeah. I know. I 'll be careful."

"Anyway, I have to go to school or the nuns will come after me and attack me with hair brushes. Take care of yourself, Amu." he says.

"Bye. And... Thanks."

"No problem." And then he hung up.

"So... was that your boyfriend?" Avonia asks in a funny tone.

"No, just a friend." I laugh it off.

"You should change into some cleaner clothes. There's a dresser upstairs in your room with clothes that would probably fit you. They're a little out dated, but they're better than dirty clothes." she instructs. I thought I had brought some clothes with me, but I guess I dropped them on my way here.

"Thanks Avonia, this means a lot to me."

"Don't worry about it, raindrop."

I walk upstairs and into the guest room. The closet is a wardrobe, like in that movie, The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe. On it, there's intricate designs of moons and stars. I trace my finger along the designed doors. The wood is soft, but hard. I open the small doors to see what my choices are for the day. Inside, there's a lot of dresses. Not my best look. I flip through the dresses, stopping at one particular dress. It had a white and black pattern on it. I immediately recognize it from the dream I had that woke me up. If that was my grandmother downstairs, and I'm standing in my mother's room, this was her wardrobe, and she dropped me off at the orphanage wearing this dress. I decide to put it on.

It fits me perfectly! I walk around the room, looking for a mirror to brush my hair. I open the bed side table drawer with force, guessing that it hadn't been open in a very long time. A brush with strands of pink hair is still in it. Which is kind of gross, but whatever. I'm

starting to feel like...I belong, as if I'm a part of something. Like this is my mother's room, and downstairs, my _real _grandmother is making me eggs.

After I make myself decent, I walk back down the stairs into the room.

"Hello, Cherry Blossom." Avonia greets sweetly.

"I think we should talk."

"Yes. Talking sounds great."

We sit down at the small kitchen table that had miss-matching chairs. I eat my breakfast quietly, while she takes the talking stick. Not literally, I'm just busy eating and I don't know where to start.

"My daughter Rose was a very bright girl. I sent her to a school in the city, because I wanted her to have the best. She was beautiful, she always made the right decisions, she was smart, but something went wrong. When I was pregnant with Rose, I left my husband. He was very rich, and he had all of the money and more to pay for me and Rose's well-being. Unfortunately, and I don't like talking about this, he was abusive. Very abusive. So I had to leave him."

"I'm so sorry." I tell her.

"Yes, well, you can't really judge a book by it's cover. He seemed so nice. Anyway, I found this house, an old friend of mine lived here when I was younger, so I bought the house for cheap with the money I stole. About 10 years later, I got a visit from the old bastard. He said that I couldn't raise Rose, and I had to move back with him. After I had called the police, I read stories in the newspaper of his insanity. Raping women, stealing money, murder. He became a master criminal.

"I kept the identity of Rose's father from her until she turned 13. She asked about him, begging to know him, and eventually, I gave in. It wasn't until she was 15 that things got a little weird. She went missing for a few days at a time, she was very skittish, and she had very strange dreams. She'd also say things like, 'I have to leave.' and, 'something's coming after me.' But I took no precautions. My husband was in jail at that time, so it couldn't have been him. To this day I don't know what was wrong. When she met Will, her boyfriend, things got a little better. She smiled, she didn't really have anything to worry about, that is, until she got pregnant with his baby. She was dead for those 9 months. She didn't leave the house, she spoke in whispers, she wouldn't let me leave the house. When she had her baby in the hospital, she took her and ran. She left all of her possessions at home. I didn't hear anything from her after that, so I sent a rescue team to look for her. Three months later, the searchers found some of her things in a forest, not far from here. A book, a dress, and a pink blanket. Everything was covered in blood. In fact, that dress you are wearing is the same one they found." she remembered.

"WHAT?!" I shriek.

"I washed it, don't worry. Now back to my story, I figured Rosie was dead, along with her baby. I grieved for years, never leaving the house, never going into that room upstairs, nothing. Then, I met you at the cafe. You had the very same hair and eyes that Rosie and I share, that same smile. I figured that it had to be Rosie. I almost lost it. But I realized that Rosie was for sure dead. The only person you could be... is..." she says between deep breaths.

"- Is Rosie's daughter." I answer for her. Hearing it out loud, and from someone else, really hammers the nail in tight.

"Yes. I suppose you feel the same?" she guesses, her voice cracking.

"Yeah."

Avonia started crying. I rush over to her side, patting her back. "I've wanted to meet you... for so long." she cries. "I can't believe it. I really want to believe it, but I can't." she continues to cry.

"Why can't we? It's too much of a coincidence. I'm an orphan of a single teen mother. The hair, the eyes, the age explain it. It's all there." I start crying, too.

"But... But... You're supposed to be dead! She's supposed to be dead!" she sobs. _ Oh no. What if she doesn't let me stay? Where will I go? She has to be my grandmother._

"We need to figure this out. I know we can. Maybe Rosie isn't dead! There could be clues! I've read thousands of Nancy Drew Books! Please. Let me stay."

"Of course you can stay." she laughs through her tears.

"Do you believe that I'm your granddaughter?" I ask. "I am. It's not too good to be true. It isn't. The past 17 years have been horrible for the both of us. It's not too good. It's just making up for all of the bad things that have been shitty in our lives!" I exclaim.

"Amu Hinamori! There is no swearing under my roof!" she bounces back.

"Sorry. But do you see why? This is fate! Please. You must believe it." I beg.

"...I'm... Okay... Now let's go back to that orphanage of yours." she decides. Her crying has stopped.

"What?" I ask. After all of that, nothing.

"So I can legally adopt you. And I need to have a word with those nuns." she says. I gave her an enormous hug.

"You don't know how long I've waited for this, Avonia." I hug her.

"Oh I do. I feel the exact same way. Thank you." she says. "And please, call me Grannie." she asks.

"Grannie, thank you."

**LivLiv: I wanted to end the chapter like this. It's very dramatic. Oh, and remember, FISH!**

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	9. With or Without You

**LivLiv: I'm back! The flash back scene is inspired from a poem I read a while ago. I can't remember the name. **

**I eventually fell asleep around 3:30am. Wasn't a happy camper that day. Ah well. My doctor prescribed me some sleeping medication so life is good again.**

**Also... you may have noticed that I use A LOT of U2 lyrics... but that's only because I freaking adore that band. Check out the song, you've probably heard it before.**

In Little River...

**Chapter Nine: With or Without You**

"_On a bed of nails she makes me wait, and I wait without you. _

_With or without you. With or without you. _

_Through the storm we reach the shore, you give it all _

_but I want more, and I'm waiting for you._

_With or without you."  
_-U2

Ikuto's POV:

I hang up the phone after talking with Amu. After she left last night, I couldn't stop worrying about her, and that left me without sleeping a wink. Now I really wish I had. I have lots to do today. Somehow, I have to convince Utau to forgive Amu, I have to collect Amu's homework, and I have to find out where she is. If Amu truly believes that it's her grandmother, then I trust her judgment. But it's not fair. I almost had her and then this woman comes. I'm happy that she found her family, but why now? I have been waiting for her to finally warm up to me and realize that I'm not a bad guy, and now this? Why does this happen? Maybe I'm not supposed to be with Amu. A guy like me doesn't deserve a girl like her. She deserves someone so much more. I've done so many bad things. Do I stand back and let her have what she's waited for? Will she ever need me? I've waited so long, but she has never noticed. She never will. She'll never know that-

"Heads up!" Someone calls, interrupting my thoughts. A soccer ball comes right for my head, but I catch it in one swift movement. Kukai comes running after it.

"Wow. That's a good look for you." he says sarcastically. He's pointing to the black circles under my eyes.

"Thanks." I mutter.

"So. How was last night?" he asks. Kukai knows all about me staying at the orphanage, and that Amu 'works' there too. "Did Amu stay late again?" he winks.

"No."

"What's wrong?" He asks.

"I…" I start, but Utau caught my eye. "Utau!" I call calmly. She looked up from her cell phone.

"Have you heard anything from Amu!?" she rushes, she seems very worried. "I know everything about the orphanage; I know that you're staying there. What did you do this time? Set Ms. Wilson's cat on fire? Oh wait. What was I saying? Oh yes. I want to know where she is! I was horrible! And I'm so sorry! Do you know anything about where she is!?" She can really talk a lot.

"Come with me." I say, taking her behind the school.

"What is it? Is she okay?" Utau asks.

"She's fine. I think."

"Then where is she? What happened? What are you hiding from me?"

"Shut it! I can only answer so many questions, Utau." I tell her. "Let me explain. Before you found out that she is an orphan, Amu thought she had met her grandmother in the café."

"WHAT?! HER GRANDMOTHER! I DIDN'T KNOW THERE WAS SUCH A THING!" She shrieks.

"Quiet fool!" She closes her mouth. "So after you yelled at her," I glare at her, "she ran home, and told me she was going to leave."

"Why didn't she tell me about her grandmother?" Utau asks with a hurt expression on her face.

"She didn't tell you because you may have found about her being in the orphanage."

"I just don't understand why she didn't tell me from the beginning." Utau mumbles.

"Amu... doesn't like people worrying about her. She didn't want anyone to feel sorry for her."

"Oh, so now you're a wise old man?" she asks sarcastically.

"I'm only seventeen." I say with a smirk.

"Whatever. So where is Amu now? You said she left, but where?"

"She found her grandmother's house. She called me this morning." This whole 'Reconciling Amu and Utau' was easier than I thought. We both fall silent.

Utau speaks up, but not in the same, worried tone she was using earlier. "So you like Amu?"

"What?" I ask.

"Oh come on, I've noticed this since I came to Little River in middle school. You've probably liked her since you were six or something." She says, looking off to the football field.

"You're crazy." I ridicule, walking off. I think about Amu and what Utau said. I've always liked Amu, but it's one sided. Now that I remember, Amu and I used to be good friends. That is, until we were twelve.

_Flashback __**(Inspired from a poem, I do not completely own)**_

"_Ikuto!" Amu called. Science class had started and I was lucky enough to be partnered up with her._

_Amu took her seat on the stool next to me at our lab table._

"_Hey Amu." I said._

"_Now class, in front of you is something we call a Bunsen burner. It's very hot when it's on. Be very careful." The teacher said. "The on switch is on the left side."_

_Amu turned on the Bunsen burner._

"_AMU! YAYA NEEDS HELP TURNING ON THE BUM-BUM BURNER!" Yaya called across the room. Amu walked across the room to help Yaya._

"_It's a Bunsen burner." Amu told Yaya._

_On the table, Amu had left her metal pen. I picked it up, and held it over the fire, letting it get hot. I set it back down on the table where Amu had left it._

"_Now, where were we?" Amu asked, taking her seat beside me. She picked up her pen, holding it for a second or two until she noticed the temperature. The smell of burning flesh filled the room as her skin was marked from the burning metal. She screamed out in pain, and was rushed to Doctor Hurtyo. He said that the burns would stay on her fingers forever. _

"_I hate you!" she yelled at me._

_End of Flashback._

Why was I so stupid? Did I honestly believe she would think being marked forever was a sign of love? I guess I did, but come on, I was twelve. Before that, she and I were friends. But since that incident, she's ignored me. I tried so hard. I tried being a gentleman by helping her with her coat, but she would just slap me across the face. I tried flirting with her, but she found it appalling. I apologized, I sent her flowers. Hell, I even wrote a song for her on the violin, but she would never let me play it for her. Then, I finally got a chance to get close with her when I was sent to the orphanage, but that was taken from me too. I wonder, when she looks down at her right hand and sees those terrible burns, does she think of me? And if she does, is it with hate? Or does she just ignore it?

Utau is right. I do love Amu, more than anything. But Amu has hated me for too many years. I can't just jump in like this. She has her grandmother. She has family. She has something that she has wanted for so long. I can't take that from her.

The morning bell rang through the quickly emptying high school halls.

**9:00am**

First period is science class. I glare at the Bunsen burner.

**10:10am**

I'm in English class, thinking about a poem I could write about her.

**11:10am**

At lunch, playing soccer with Kukai, wondering if she's thinking about me.

**12:10pm**

In music class, writing a song. Yes, about Amu.

**1:20pm**

Gym class. The guys are talking about the girls in the change room. I thought about Amu, and what kind of underwear she's wearing. I don't think she's a thong kind of girl. Don't blame me, I'm a guy.

**2:30pm**

In math class, looking a Amu's empty seat.

**3:30pm**

The bell rang for home time. I had all of Amu's homework, so I started making my way to the highway. I need to find Amu. I walk up the busy streets outside of Little River, where I had seen Amu run down the other night.

**5:40pm**

_I'm hungry. _I walk up the large road, absent-mindedly watched the cars drive down the highway. The passengers all have tired expressions, angry expressions, or bored expressions. There's a rusty truck coming down the highway now. The passengers consist of a young woman driving and an old lady in the passenger seat. They look happy. The young woman had pink hair. Pink hair. Pink hair. Pink hair! Amu.

I wave my arm up, trying not to look like a spaz. Amu looks up from behind the wheel, catching my eye. Her eyes widen. She waves frantically at me, pulling the car over. Her grandmother is holding onto the roof of the car, fearing for her life.

"Ikuto! What are you doing here?" She asks cheerfully. She's wearing a black and white patterned dress from the 50's. It looks really good on her.

"What are you doing here?" I ask her back, more surprised than she.

"Oh! Ikuto, meet my grandmother." She introduces, pointing to the woman tumbling out of the car. "Grandma!" she shouts, running to her.

"I'm okay!" she confirmed, walking to the other side where I was standing. "Hello young man, my name is Avonia."

"Hello." I say blankly. "Amu, what's going on?"

"Come in the truck, I'll explain on the way to Little River." She winks at me. I got in the old truck, Avonia sitting in between Amu and me.

"My mother's name is Rosie Winter." She starts.

**Sorry for the cliff hanger, but you already know the story about Rosie. I think Ikuto may be a little OOC, but it's the best I can do. I want to get the story moving. Please,**

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	10. Friend

**LivLiv: I won't be able to post any chapters after this for a bit. Sit tight, I'll be back soon.**

_Last Chapter:  
__"Come in the truck, I'll explain on the way to Little River." She winked at me. I got in the old truck, Avonia sitting in between Amu and me._

_"My mother's name is Rosie Winter." She started._

In Little River…

**Chapter 10: Friend**

_"You don't have to be cool, don't have to be smart, don't need to know anything all the time.  
It's alright if you're a little bit out of it, I don't care, I just wanna be your friend."_

- Kaitlyn

Amu's POV

Ikuto sits beside Grannie and listens to the story we had just recently uncovered this morning.

"Rosie found out about her father when she was 13 and turned weird when she was 15. We think that she may have met him somehow. That, we don't actually know for sure yet. When she was 16, she got pregnant with her boyfriend. And after she gave birth in the hospital, she took off. She dropped me off at the orphanage, and possibly was murdered the same night in a forest." I explain. "What we need to know is how Rosie turned weird, any hidden identity of my possible father, where my grandfather is now, if and how they ever met, and who killed her."

Ikuto looks like he's going to faint. It's a lot to take in, I guess. It makes me rather excited, however.

"And you figured all of this out this morning?" he asks.

I look at Grannie, she looks back. "Yes." We both answer.

"Well, where are you going now?" he asks.

"I'm going to adopt Amu." Grannie says pleasantly. Ikuto's face falls and he keeps quiet.

"Yeah, but I'm still going to go to school in Little River." I say. It seemed to cheer him up a bit.

"Is this the turn off?" Grannie asks.

"Yes, there is the sign for Carnation house." I say, pointing the beaten up sign.

"Why does it say, 'Incarnation of Satan House' on it? Grannie asks.

"Oh, some idiot thought it would be funny since the orphanage is run by nuns." I turn on the flicker and pull into the only road to Carnation House in Little River. Even though the turn off is off the highway. **(LivLiv: I still have the map for the link if you want it!)**

"I think it's clever. And very ironic." Ikuto points out.

"You're an idiot then." I joke.

The trees part and I can see the yellow building with the creamy porch just ahead of me. Sister Marie-Claire is in her usual position, sitting on her rocking chair for an afternoon snooze. I park the car and walk around the hood to help Grannie out, but Ikuto's already there.

"You're a fine young man." She compliments.

"Thank you Ms. Winter." He says with a smile. Weird.

"Call me Grannie." She gives him a warm smile in return. He laughs and helps her up the big porch. Grannie turns around to look at me, winking. "I think I can handle it from here." She says when I laugh. "Yes, Ikuto. You will make some girl a fine husband, I know it!" I refrain from laughing so Ikuto won't get any ideas about me marrying him. He chuckles politely.

We ring the bell and in an instant, Mother Superior is at the door.

"Hello, my name is Mother Superior. I welcome you to – Ikuto? What are you doing with this woman?! Why aren't you in school?" Mother Superior asks.

"I went to find Amu." He replies. Mother Superior's face drops, looking behind Grannie and Ikuto at me. She walks gracefully between them, never taking her powerful and holy glare from my face.

"Where have you been?" she asks calmly.

"I ran away." I say truthfully.

"I can see that. Where did you go?" Her eyes drift down to size me up. Her eyes widen when she sees what I was wearing. "Where did you..?"

"Mother Superior." Grannie interrupts. "My name is Avonia Winter. I would like to adopt Amu Hinamori." She states.

Mother Superior turns to look at the old woman who stood on her front porch. She shakes her head to think clearly. "Uh. Yes, Are you suitable to adopt a child?" she asks. slightly impolitely.

"You mean, am I going to die any time soon?" Grannie laughs. "I'm only 53, and I have a long line of longevity in my veins. I think I've got a handle on my life for another 30 years or so."

"I can't imagine why you'd want such an old girl. She's graduating soon. We have younger girls that would-" Mother Superior is frantic.

"I'm not going to live that long!" she laughes, again. I love that sound.

Mother Superior was visibly nervous.

"Well then. Let me show you inside." Mother Superior tries to say as pleasantly as she can. My eyes are so wide that they might have fallen out of their sockets. I look at Grannie, who remains perfectly calm as Mother Superior talks about me, trying to convince her not to adopt me.

"Uhh..." is all I can say. Ikuto walks toward me.

"Hey." He says.

"Yemm." I reply dumbly.

"Yem?" he asks. I mentally slap myself for being such an idiot. I look up at Ikuto, who has a small smile on his face. A smile. Not a smirk. "It's not going to be easy living here without you."

"How many hours do you have left?" I ask, my brain back on track.

"Thirty one hours. I thought there would be more, but I guess just living here is service to the community. Keeps people like me off the streets." he jokes. "Amu, I…" he starts. I focus my gaze on him. "Never mind."

"What?" I ask.

"Nothing." He's a blank slate once again.

"Tell me."

"No." he smirk this time. The cat is back. I've always thought of him as a cat. When we were younger, he helped me save one from a tree, and the way he climbed up that mighty spruce, well... it was cat like. And his expressions, my god! Sometimes he just looks like a cat!

"Yes!" I demand.

"No." his sadistic chuckle follows his words.

"Ye-" Ikuto puts his hand over my mouth and grabs my right hand. He examins it, flipping it over, bringing it close to his face, and feeling it with his warm hands.

"Does it hurt?" he asks, looking at my hand.

"What hurts?" I ask. He touched the burn between my thumb and my index finger from when he burned me years ago. "Oh. No, I've kind of... forgotten about it. Why?"

"No reason." He drops my hand. I have to admit, Ikuto can be pretty mysterious sometimes. The past week, he has been so different from what he has been for the past 4 years. After I was burned, I remember him always carrying my books, helping me with my coat, and being a gentleman. I hated him too much, so I ignored him and said hateful things. I'd open my locker everyday to find apology notes. Then he started being a playboy, and got mixed in with all of these raunchy people. But now, he's back to normal. He's friendly, yet serious. Perverted, yet caring. I could see myself being friends with him again.

"Hey. What ever happened?" I ask.

"To what?"

"I mean, I know I ignored you for some time after I was burned, but why did you turn all…" I search for the right word.

"Bad?" He offers.

"Yes, but in a stupid/skanky way." I laugh.

"So basically you're asking me why I turned into a man whore."

"Not really. I don't think you're that much of a whore. There aren't enough teenage girls in this town for that to be possible." I joke. "What I mean is, why did you change?"

"I was trying something different. Obviously being a gentleman didn't get your attention. If anything it made you more pissed off." He reasons.

"So you were trying to please me?" I ask suspiciously.

"Yes. Is there anything wrong with that?" He smirks.

"Did you ever think of just going back to normal? I liked you when you were."

Ikuto pauses. I can tell that the thought never really crossed his mind. I guess that since he was trying so hard to please me, he didn't realize that he was perfect the way he was when we were friends.

"I got all wrapped up in 'Teenage Angst'." He chuckles darkly.

"What was that?" I ask.

"What?"

"You chuckled darkly." I point out.

"I did." He smirks.

"Why?"

"I was reminiscing." He chuckles darkly again, reminiscing, I assume. "If you were by my side all of these years, you'd be chuckling darkly too."

"You wrote the stupid 'Incarnation of Satan House' on the sign, didn't you?" I laugh.

"Years ago, but it's still ironic and witty." He defends.

"And it must have been you who poured the rotten milk down everyone's air conditioner in town two years ago. Even still the houses smell like dumps." I accuse.

"Yep."

"And the flaming dog poop on people's porches?"

"Yep."

"And duct taping the roads?"

"Yep."

"And putting bits of tinfoil in the pastries at Mitzi's Café?"

"No. But that was a good one." He finishes. "I haven't done any pranks in a while."

"You've been normal for the past week." I say quietly.

"I have..?"

"Yeah. It's…nice."

"So you like me again?" he smirks.

"I'm working on it."

"Let's go see what's going on inside." Ikuto says, taking me by the hand.

**»-(¯`v´¯)-» Olivia Lively »-(¯`v´¯)-»**

"Now Mrs…" Mother Superior says.

"_Ms. _Winter." Grannie smiles.

"Ms. Winter. Widower?" Mother corrects, then asks.

"No, divorced." Grannie says. Mother Superior's eye twitched.

"Any children?" she asks.

"I haven't seen her in years." Grannie mentions quietly. I walk into Mother's office to comfort Grannie. Ikuto follows. Mother Superior's eyes lock onto mine, their ice blue formation freezing me cold in place. She looks at my dress again, eyeing it suspiciously.

"Amu, may I speak to you in private?" Mother Superior asks.

**LivLiv: I'm sorry. Really. I Am. I leave you guys hanging a lot, but I always update quickly! This one is really short for me. But there's lots of dialog.**

**That aside, I'm thinking this story is going to be anywhere around 20-30 chapters long. I have a slight idea with where it's going, but nothing is set in stone. **

**The reason I'm updating so quickly is because the chapters that have been posted were already written, all I've had to do was edit them and add things here and there. When I start to **_**write **_**the chapters, and by write I mean open a blank document and create a story, PLEASE KNOW THAT MY UPDATES WON'T BE FREQUENT.**


	11. Across the Universe

**LIVLIV: Hey guys, this is a long one, but it's not the END! There is so much more stuff that hasn't been unveiled. So read, review. BTW I've had a lot of trouble choosing the chapter name.**

In Little River…

**Chapter 11: Across the Universe.**

"_Sounds of laughter shades of life are ringing through my open ears exciting and inviting me.  
Limitless, undying love which shines around me like a million suns it calls me on and on  
across the universe__. Ja guru deva om.  
__Nothing's going to change my world." _

_-The Beatles_

_Last Chapter…_

_Mother Superior's eyes locked onto mine. Their ice blue formation froze me cold in place. She looked at my dress again, eyeing it suspiciously._

"_Amu, may I speak to you in private?" Mother Superior asked._

I walk over to the small desk where Mother Superior is sitting behind. Grannie and Ikuto leave the room hesitantly, eyeing Mother Superior and me.

"Have a seat." She says in a soft voice.

I sit down in the comfortable chair placed in front of her desk. The room around me is organized very neatly. In the large shelf behind Mother are last names, filed in alphabetical order, and dated by year. Her desk has nothing on it except a brown folder with barely anything in it.

"Is that mine?" I ask, my eyes gesturing to the folder.

"Yes. Who's did you expect?"

"I thought it'd be bigger, since I was such a bad kid." I say with no particular expression.

"This is not a school, it's a house. A holy house." She remarks.

"This is an orphanage, not a church." I mutter under my breath.

She looks up at me and smiles. My eyes widen, for her smile isn't one of blackmail or false pleasance, it is one of kindness.

"You were always very quick." She says. "You're a bright girl, Amu."

I'm too shocked to wonder why she's being so nice, considering her record of being the devil's apprentice. My mouth hangs open wide as she continues to smile at me. Her face turns to a look of disgust, watching me.

"That is not attractive; I do not want to see your uvula, Amu." She snaps with superiority, which isn't much of a shock, considering she's Mother Superior.

"Oh, I'm sorry." I close my mouth. She starts rummaging through my thin file, and pulls out a gold necklace with a small heart locket.

"This is your mother's." she says, holding it up and gazing at it.

"My mother's?" I ask. _How do you remember my mother?_

"She left it with you when she dropped you off here." She hands me the chain.

"What… What do you know about my mother?" I ask.

She pauses for a long time. Slowly, she gets out of her seat and walks to the large window that shows the back yard of Carnation House; a field of pink, red, white, yellow, and peachy-orange carnations.

"Your mother came to me 17 years ago. She was 16, and it was raining that night. In 1997, there happened to be a lot of children left here at Carnation House, because most people didn't want to keep children, and a thing such as abortion wasn't an option for a girl - living out here - back then. She knocked on our door, begging for a job and a place to stay. How could we say no? She had a baby in her arms, it was raining, and she was so young.

"She worked in this garden and helped around the house with cooking and cleaning. She was such a joy to have around. She loved you, and wanted the best for you, so the night she told us she was leaving was quite a shock. She said that if anyone wanted to adopt her, they weren't allowed. She left that necklace, your birth certificate, and nothing else. She wanted you to stay at the orphanage until you were old enough to leave home.

"The night she left was the last time anyone ever saw your mother. I can still see her, walking about the front door in a black and white dress, her long, pink hair left down.

"A few months later, they found some of her possessions in a forest not too far from here. Covered in blood, but no trace of where her body might be. It is still a mystery as to where it went, because the police eventually gave up on the search. When the sisters and I went to claim some of her possessions, we were disappointed to find that her mother had claimed them.

"We prayed, cried, and begged for God to return her to us. We turned hostile towards you, who we thought was the reason for her leave. But, God _did_ return her to Carnation House, in the form of a child. Her spirit, courage, kindness and perserverance was in you this whole time, but we didn't notice. I am so sorry." Tears roll down her withered cheeks, and Mother Superior starts to weep for the first time in - I bet - a very long time.

I get up and walk around her desk, giving her the warmest hug I can. We stand there for a while, and the old woman's salty teardrops stain my black and white vintage dress. "If… If she told you not to let anyone adopt me, why are you giving me away now?" I ask, letting go of her. I know that it _is _Grannie adopting me, but a girl can wonder.

"The dress you're wearing is the only dress she wore while she was here." She says. I figured that out already. "So that woman out there must be your grandmother. I'm sure Rosie would want you to be with family." Didn't predict that she's know that. Full of surprises.

Silence.

I clear my throat. "Did my mother mention anything else? Anything about her family; my father, or where she was headed?" I ask.

"No. That would be in her diary." She tells me.

"What diary?" I ask, alarmed.

"Her diary. She wrote in it every day."

Silence.

We stand in front of the window as the sun sets.

More Silence.

"Thank you, Mother Superior." I say blankly.

"I will miss you." She says, bringing her hand to her cheek, wiping more tears.

"I'll miss you too." I tell her. And I really would, even though she put me through hell all of my life, I would miss her.

"I guess I should sign the adoption papers." She declares.

**»-(¯`v´¯)-» Olivia Lively »-(¯`v´¯)-»**

We stand on the front porch of Carnation House; Ikuto, Grannie, Mother Superior, Sister Marie Claire, Sister Theresa, Sister Anne, Sister Eunice, Sister Mary Agatha, a tearful Misa, and all of the other crying kids staying here. It's sort of a tradition at Carnation house; everyone would stand on the front porch, waving to the adopted kid until they turned the corner. I carry my old-school suitcase in one hand, and my adoption papers in the other while the other nuns stand around, crying about how much I've grown, and the resemblance to my mother. Grannie can't hear them, which is good because Grannie doesn't know about the nuns' relationship with my mother. Grannie is discussing something with Mother Superior; both have wide smiles on their faces.

"I'm actually 67!" Grannie laughs. Some of the other sisters join in to listen to Grannie's jokes.

"Hey." Ikuto says from behind, so I turn around to face him. His expression is unreadable, but his eyes are locked onto mine.

"What… are you… Are you going to go to school here?" He asks.

"Yes, of course. I'm going to come down every day to visit everyone."

"Good. Utau would like that." He looks away.

"Utau?" I had forgotten about Utau.

"Yeah. I talked to her at school. She says that she understands... your previous situation." He smiles.

"Yeah." I laugh. "Ikuto…"

He looks up.

"When are you finished your community service?" I ask.

"A couple more days. But then I'll be back at home with my parents." He says with a humorless laugh.

"I'll miss you." I say.

"Amu, don't be dramatic, it's not like it's the last time we'll see each other."

I can't stop myself from going ballistic. "I'm going to miss living with you, and going to school with you every day! I'm going to miss showing you my secret stashes and escape routes in the orphanage and being yelled at by the nuns! I'm going to miss everyone here; you helped me grow!" and I break down in tears for the second time today.

"Hey, don't worry. Things will be the same when we get to school." Ikuto says calmly, comforting me.

"No they won't!" I cry.

"Amu, it'll be fine. Ikuto, why don't you come stay with us at my home? You can share Amu's room." Grannie steps in.

"ABSOLUTELY NOT!" The sisters shout at the same time. All of the orphans giggle through their tears.

"I'm only kidding, But you can come and stay whenever, child." Grannie says.

"Thank you, Avonia." Ikuto accepts politely.

"Grannie." Grannie corrects.

"Sorry, Grannie." He replys.

"It's time to say goodbye." Mother Superior says with a tear.

I give my farewell hugs to the sisters, each waving the sign of the cross in front of me. I say goodbye to the girls, giving them each a kiss on their foreheads.

"I'll miss you, Amu." Misa says as I hug her.

"I'll be back, and when I come, I'll take you to the beach." I tell her.

"I love you." She whispers in my ear.

"I love you too."

I walk over to Mother Superior, giving her another hug.

"Goodbye, child." She whispers. She hands me a large silver cross with a chain on it. It is completely flat, and reflects light brightly.

"No, Mother Superior, I can't." I say.

"You must, it will protect you."

I have to laugh at that part.

"Don't laugh at God!" she shouts. I smile and turn to leave.

"Bye, Mother." I walk toward the truck, holding in all of my tears. "I forgot something!" I yell. Everyone looks at me as I drop everything in my hands and run behind Carnation House in the direction of the church.

The carnations tickle my legs as I run through the full field. Carnations can represent many different things. Yellow ones represent disdain, disappointment, or rejection. Most of the feelings I felt just a few days ago when Utau got mad at me for being an orphan. White ones represent innocence and pure love like a friendship; it's actually a white carnation that's Little River's symbol. I can't imagine a better place for a girl without a family but here. I let the tears fall from my face. Goodbyes are not my thing; I've always disdained them. But right now, these aren't sad tears. They're tears of joy. I'm not leaving to go to a new home, I'm just switching an address. I'll always have a home here in Little River. There's Utau, Mitzi my boss, Misa, and now I have Ikuto, and the rest of the nuns as family. I'm growing up, not leaving forever. Like the meaning of a pink carnation; I'll never forget. And this place, these people, will always be on my mind.

I'm spinning around in the flowers, twirling, and I collapse in the bed of carnations. I close my eyes, taking the sunshine in, the surrounding home, love, and beauty of this small, hidden town. After a few minutes, I stand up and make my way to the back of the church. It's a dream. It must be. It's too good to be true. I walk up the cobblestone path to the large doors, letting myself in.

"Hello?" I call. Father Tsukasa is in front of the alter, praying.

"Hello Amu. Congratulations." He says. How does he know these things?

"Um. For what?" I ask.

"You were adopted, were you not? And by your blood grandmother if I am correct." He says, not taking his eyes off the bible's scripture. Tsukasa is a mystery. He always knows what I want to talk about before I step into the church.

"How..? How do you know this?" I say, but I'm interrupted by a long honking noise coming from the truck. I guess I'm taking long.

"You should be going. Your future awaits." He says.

"Y-yes." I stammer.

"Don't be a stranger." He says, walking off.

I run outside the church and shrug Father Tsukasa's weirdness off. But I will have to talk to him later.

I walk towards the truck and sit in the driver's seat. Grannie helps herself up into the passenger's seat, saying her final goodbyes. I smile and turn on the engine.

"Wait!" Ikuto calls.

I roll down the window while he jumps off the porch, running to the truck.

"I forgot something." He says.

"What?" I ask with my head out of the window so I can hear him over the roar of the truck.

He leans in and presses his lips to mine. He's warm and tastes like toothpaste. My pulse increases a million times the pace of a normal human being's, that, and my brain melts.

And then he lets go.

"See you soon." He whispers.

I smile, put the car in reverse, and pull out of the driveway with my grandmother, for hopefully, not the last time.

**LivLiv: Okay, a whole crap load of writing there. 8 pages. I hope you liked it! I know I said I was taking a break to study, but I found time.**

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	12. Moon River

In Little River…

**Chapter 12: Moon River**

"_Moon River, wider than a mile,  
I'm crossing you in style some day.  
Oh, dream maker, you heart-breaker,  
wherever you're going I'm going your way."_

_-Breakfast at Tiffany's._

**At the Winter's House.**

"Hello Amu Winter." Grannie says.

"Hello Grannie." I say getting used to my new name.

It's about 7:00 and I'm making dinner for Grannie. I stir the pot of soup in a rhythmic motion as Grannie lights a small fire.

"Why don't we watch a movie tonight?" Grannie asks

"I'd love to! I didn't know you had a TV."

"It's in the cupboard under the stairs." She says, I try to avoid making a comment about Harry Potter. She wouldn't get it anyway. "Here, I'll take over the soup." I hand her the wooden spoon and walk to the stairs. The cupboard has one of those old fashioned crystal door knobs. Inside is a bunch of small furniture covered in sheets. Surprising, for a room so small. The first sheet I lift has a box filled with pictures under it. I pull the chain above my head to turn on the light so I can see the pictures.

The first one is of my mom and Grannie. She would have been about 4 years old, swinging on a swing with Grannie pushing behind her. The next few photos were of my mother and Grannie, too. It was a little scary, how much mom and I looked alike.

The next one that catches my eye is one of my mom and two boys. They all had backpacks and smiley faces on. It must have been their first day of school. My mom had overalls on and her long hair was tied up with a messy ribbon. Very 80's. The boy on the left had brown hair and gold eyes, the boy on the right had blond hair and dark eyes. I flip the photo over to reveal something written in black ink.

"Will, Rosie, and Tsukasa."

Tsukasa?!

WILL!? MY (maybe) FATHER?!

I feel light headed, and place the picture on the floor beside me.

The next is one of my mom playing the guitar, she was about 13. She wore denim Capri pants and a white tank top, sitting in a tree. ..Tsukasa and Will were there too, watching her.

A few photos after that are pictures of my mom, pregnant. Will was at her left, and Tsukasa at her right.

I flip through the photos of my mother's childhood. A photo of my mom all dolled up for a recital, one of her at her elementary graduation, one of her behind a spinning pottery moulder, more of her and Grannie, and then one of her, Grannie, and a man in front of a big, white house.

Could it be?

"Amu? Are you Ok?" Grannie calls, wondering why I've been so quiet.

"Yeah!" I put the picture with the one of Tsukasa, Will, and mom. The next sheet I lift has a box with a VHS player, a bunch of movies, and an old fashioned TV.

I set the TV up and place the chairs in front of it. There aren't a lot of movies to choose from, but it's difficult because all of her movies are my favorites. There's Breakfast at Tiffany's, My Fair Lady, The Wizard Of Oz, Gone with the Wind, Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, The Trouble with Angels, and Cover Girl.

"There's so many to choose from." I say.

"What are you talking about? There is about 10 movies there."

"9." I correct her.

"Let's see." She walks over to the movie bin. "Oh, The Wizard of Oz and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang were Rosie's favorite movies when she was very young. I've seen them about a million times, they're definitely out."

"I think it's between Breakfast at Tiffany's, Gone with the Wind, Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, and The Trouble with Angels." I say.

**(LIV LIV: This next part is something that my sister and I do.)**

"Hmm.. yes. Ok, take them all out of those cases." She says, and I do as she instructed as she went into the kitchen. She grabs a garbage bag and holds it open in front of me. "Drop them in here." Again, I follow her instruction and listen to the tapes bang together as they reached the bottom of the bag.

Then Grannie does something very strange, she starts shaking the bag.

"GRANNIE WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" I freak out. She stops shaking.

"Calm down Amu, you're too young to be having nervous breakdowns." She smirks. "Now put your hand in the bag and pick a movie. The movie you pull out of the bag is the one we'll watch." She smiles.

I love how creative she is.

"Brilliant." I say, sticking my hand in the bag. The movie I picked was-

"Breakfast at Tiffany's!" Grannie says excited, recognizing the movie from the unique pink colour of the cassette. "I was hoping for that one, haven't seen it in years."

"Me too! I love Audrey Hepburn." I put the movie in and sat in my armchair. Grannie and I sip on our soups as the opening lights up the screen, the famous Moon River playing as a taxi pulls up to Tiffany's in New York, a black-clad Holly Golightly peering into the windows.

**»-(¯`v´¯)-» Olivia Lively »-(¯`v´¯)-»**

"_Meowr." _

"_Cat! Cat!" _ Holly says in relief.

"_Meowr." _Holly reaches behind the wooden box in the pouring rain to pick up her cat, Cat.

"_Oh Cat!" _She says, and begins to sob. Paul Varjak looks at her and her and Cat, and smiles. Holly stands up, smiling, and walks to Paul, petting Cat. The couple stares happily at each other for a moment until Paul pulls her into a warm hug, kissing her passionately, the theme song of Breakfast at Tiffany's, Moon River, playing in the background. The screen then lights up with the words "The End" written in white.

Grannie and I are sobbing.

"In the book, Paul Varjak is supposed to be gay." Grannie says, wiping her tears.

"What?! Are you serious?" I ask, totally fine again.

"Yes. It was good ending though."

"What happened?"

"You'll have to read it." Grannie teases. "It's getting late. This old woman is going to bed." She says, getting up from her seat and walking to the stairs.

I stand up and clear the dishes. The kitchen doesn't take too long to clean, and I remember the photos in the closet under the stairs.

There was the picture of my mom, my dad, and Tsukasa. And the other photo of my grandfather, my mom, and Grannie.

It's 10:00, and I still have school tomorrow. Tomorrow would be Thursday. My, how time flies.

I walk into the small bedroom, taking it in for the third time. My suitcase is on my bed, opened.

I take off the black and white 50's dress and put on some jimjam shorts and a oversized T-Shirt. I take off the long silver cross that Mother Superior gave to me and put it on the desk. I keep the heart locket on, though. The pictures I have in my hands had to be put somewhere where Grannie wouldn't see, so I hide them in the bedside drawer where the brush is.

Inside is the brush, and something else I didn't notice before. There's a brown leather-bound book and a pen with the label, "Carnation House" on it.

Book. Pen. Carnation House.

JOURNAL?!

I lift the dusty book from the drawer and hold it in front of my face. When I open it, the first page says, "This diary belongs to Rosie Winter" in bold, black letters.

The first entry is also written in black ink. The date reads May 28th, 1993.

_Dear Diary,_

_My name is Rosie Winter, I am 12 years old. My mom bought me this journal so I could keep my most precious thoughts forever. I guess if I were 40 years old, I'd want to look back at the time when I was twelve and see what I had written._

_My two best friends are Tsukasa and Will. Tsukasa is very kind and always knows how I feel. Whether I'm sad, happy, angry, or scared, he'll know before even I know. Will is very nice too. He always brings me flowers and hugs me goodbye when I have to go home. He's also very funny. Even though we live very far apart, me being in the middle of nowhere, and them living in the town close to school, we still hang out. They love coming to my house._

_My hair is pink and reaches to my mid-back, I have golden eyes, and my favorite color is red. I like to bake cookies with my mom and my favorite movies are Chitty Chitty Bang Bang and The Wizard of Oz._

_My mom is very nice, and very pretty. She has long pink hair like me. Sadly, I don't know a lot about my dad. I've been asking my mom about it, but she never tells me. I was very young when he left, or we left him._

_Anyway, today is my birthday. Will and Tsukasa are over, so we are going to explore the woods to see if we can reach the small town by ourselves!_

The ending is written in a different, messier handwriting.

_Sincerely,_

_The Beautiful and Charming, Rosie Winter._

_Ignore that, Will wrote it. ^_

I step back from the diary. If this is the journal that my mom wrote in when she lived in Carnation House, then that means I can find out everything.

**LivLiv: Ohohoho! So Tsukasa knew Rosie? Wow. Didn't see that one coming. Wait, of course I did, I write this story.**

**Oh, I don't own any of the movies listed or Shugo Chara. Just so I don't get sued by Peach-Pit, I thought I'd add that. Not that I had any of you fooled.**

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	13. Face Down

**LivLiv: Ahh, chapter thirteen. I always will make chapter thirteen a sad one. Prepare.  
****And I know I said I'd be busy but I'm procrastinating right now. Enjoy.**

In Little River

**Chapter 13: Face Down**

_"Do you feel like a man when you push her around?  
Do you feel better when she falls to the ground?"_

_- The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus_

Morning sun beams through the window and into my eyes. After discovering the information about Tsukasa, my father and my grandfather, I have been very determined.

Does Grannie know that Tsukasa is in Little River? Do they talk to each other? Should I ask Grannie?

No. I shouldn't. I should talk to Tsukasa after school. I'm not freaked out like I was last night. Sure, the news was shocking, but now I'm closer to finding out my mother's past. I'm on cloud nine!

I get into the shower to get ready for school, blow dry my hair, put on my uniform, fix my hair, and go downstairs to greet my grandmother. The steps creak cheerfully as I walk down with a skip in my step. I feel that nothing is impossible today. I would know, my horoscope says so.

"Oh don't you look lovely?" Grannie says as I enter the kitchen. "I'm making bacon and eggs, would you like some?" she asks sweetly.

"I'd love some, thanks!" I say in a chipper voice.

"You're happy." She says with a smile.

"I had a dream about Breakfast at Tiffany's." I lie.

"Oh that would make anyone happy!" she chuckles. "Grab a plate, would you, dear?" she asks.

I pick up a plate and hold it beside the frying pan as Grannie lifts food to it. We eat comfortably in the breakfast nook. This house is so comforting. I love how each chair around the kitchen is a different style, color, and bears a different seat cushion fabric.

"Oh my! You'd better be going, it's seven. It'll take you about 45 minutes to get to school." Grannie warns.

"Oops! Thank you Grannie, have a nice day!" I say, walking out the front door with the truck's keys in my hand. I slip the key into the ignition and let it sit for a few minutes as the engine revved. I have to make sure I had everything, first. The pictures are in my bag along with my books, my pencils, and mom's diary.

**»-(¯`v´¯)-» Olivia Lively »-(¯`v´¯)-»**

When I get to school, Utau is waiting at the front. I park in the - very small - student parking lot, which is completely abandoned as most students walk to school.

Utau runs over to the truck with tears in her eyes and her arms opening wide for a hug. We collide and hold each other tight.

"I'm SO sorry Amu. I take back everything I said. I completely understand about you not telling me! Well, no I don't, but I love you and I always want you to be by my side. You are the bestest best friend I've ever had and although you live over a half an hour away now, I want to make sure that we always hang out. I'm so happy you've been adopted! Oh, and did I mention -" Utau blubbers.

"Utau, calm down. You will always be my best friend." I say softly.

"Oh Amu! I love you!" She says again.

"I love you too, Utau. Now let's get to class before this goes any further. You're kind of scaring me." We both laugh.

"Hey." A voice greets. Ikuto.

"Ikuto!" I exclaim, whipping my head around. He stands on the other side of my truck, smiling.

"Missed me?" He says with a smirk.

"N-no!" I stutter.

"I missed you." His smirk grows wider.

"I'm going inside." I snarl.

"No hug? You are so cruel." He teases. I stomp off and he chuckles.

**»-(¯`v´¯)-» Olivia Lively »-(¯`v´¯)-»**

**After school...**

On one of the few benches outside the school, I'm talking with Ikuto and Utau, telling them everything I know. I figure I have to tell my best friends. Maybe they can help. I've already told Utau that the woman who adopted me was my real grandmother, but I have to explain everything about Tsukasa and my mother's past to both of them.

"Wait, I'm confused. Start from the beginning." Utau says.

"Ok. This is my grandfather." I explain, showing them the picture of my grandmother, my mother, and my grandfather standing in front of a very big house. "He abused Grannie until she ran away and got divorced. No one has seen him since. When my mom began school, she made two friends. Will and Tsukasa." I inform them, showing them the other picture of my mom, Will and Tsukasa.

"You don't mean…" Ikuto interrupts.

"Yeah. Father Tsukasa. I know for a fact it's the same one. Not just because of this picture, but because he said something weird the other day. He said that he was happy that I was being adopted by my blood-grandmother. The only people who know that Avonia Winter is my grandmother is Mother Superior, you guys, Grannie and me. So I made the connection when I saw the picture."

"Yipes." Utau says.

"Go on." Ikuto instructs.

"So when my mom turned 10, my grandfather showed up at Grannie's house. Grannie called the police and he was sent to jail. Of course my mom found out about the visit and began to question about her father. When she turned 15, she got a little weird. She'd go missing for a few days at a time, she'd be skittish, have bad dreams, and say weird things about leaving and that something was after her. Grannie took no precautions because her husband was in jail. When my mom turned 16, my Grannie said that mom had met Will. But that is a lie because Grannie knew Will when he, Tsukasa and my mom were younger. They were best friends. At that time, my mom was going out with Will, and mom got pregnant. After she had me, she left home. Grannie never saw her again."

"That is so sad." Utau comments.

"Utau? " Ikuto asks.

"Yes?" she replies.

"Shut up."

"Anyway, my mom dropped me off at the nearest orphanage. Well, that's what I was told until a few days ago. Apparently my mom lived in the Carnation House for about 2 months, and all the nuns loved her. One day, she left without a word, leaving me behind. She told Mother Superior to never let anyone adopt me. About a month later, investigators found some of my mom's belongings in a forest not far from here. A dress, a journal, and a pink blanket. The items were claimed by Grannie, and she put them back in their spots, never looking at them again. Her body still has never been found."

"That's awful!" Utau exclaims.

"Shut up." Ikuto snaps again.

"Last Sunday, my grandmother was at Mitzi's Café. She said I looked like her daughter, Rosie. When I went to sleepover at your house the next night and we had that argument, I ran away. I went to the first exit I could find, which was a deserted, long driveway. It led to a small house in the middle of the forest. I knocked on the door, and it was Grannie. Well, I didn't know it was Grannie, it was the woman from the Café. I stayed the night, and she explained about Rosie going all weird and running away. We found out about each other being related, and she let me stay.

"So then I found these pictures in a closet, and I remembered Mother Superior telling me about mom's diary. When Grannie went to bed, I went to look for it. This is where it gets scary." I pause, letting everything that I've told them sink in.

"Okay..." Ikuto says, wanting me to continue.

"She got weird when she was 15, right?" I ask, making sure they're keeping up with me. They both nod. "I read the entire diary, and I found out what happened." I reach into my bad, pulling out the leather-bound journal. Flipping to the right page that I dog-ear folded, I started reading. "'April 11th, 1995' - my mom's birthday. It was that day she turned 15." I explain, tracing my fingers over the ancient - what appeared to me - pen indents on the page. She was pressing pretty hard with the pen she was using when she wrote this.

"'_I received a letter from - believe it or not - my dad's brother today. He wants to meet somewhere, but it has to stay a secret. He says he wants to connect and talk about dad. Normally, this would have freaked me out, getting a letter from a strange man, but he said that it's been a burden, not having a relationship with his only neice. He doesn't have children. I'm writing one back, telling him he can pick me up in front of the school on the following Wednesday that he gets this. I have guitar lessons that day, so mom won't know that I'm not there, anyway. I'm curious. Sincerely, Rosie Winter.''' _ I read to them. Their faces are covered with grief.

"So she was going to meet her uncle?" Utau asks, trying to gather her thoughts. I nod. "So... does that mean that meeting her uncle made her turn weird?"

"Yeah, but it gets weirder."

Ikuto puts his head into his hands, preparing for what I'm going to say next.

"'_April 25th, 1993. I should have known better than to meet with a strange man, even if he is my uncle. I'll explain. On Wednesday the 21st, I was waiting for my uncle for 40 minutes outside the school. My lessons don't start until 4:00, so I could kill 40 minutes waiting for him. He was waiting in the parking lot in a very nice car. We went for a drive, and he explained how my mother told the authorities that he was guilty of domestic violence. He never said it wasn't true, and I should have known then. He took me to a house, saying it was a friend's, so we could have a cup of free coffee. When we got out, a man appeared at the door, and I discovered it was my father. We had coffee, and they both started talking of how my mother was ruining everything. When I asked what they were talking about, angry they were framing my mother for something, they started towards me, getting violent. I'm okay, but it was scary. I really hope my uncle or dad doesn't show up next Wednesday. I've thought about telling mom, but when she knows that I went to meet dad's brother, she'll be furious. Maybe this will all just blow over.'"_

Ikuto and Utau look like they're going to be sick. Ikuto is the first to speak.

"So... did they come meet her the next Wednesday?"

"Yeah, and every time they'd take her to nice places. She told Grannie she was staying at a girl's house. My grandfather was locked up a little while after, his other crimes catching up with him. And..." I can't continue.

"What?" Utau asks curiously.

"You guys can't judge me, please." I beg.

"Of course not."

"Her uncle raped her, and I'm... that baby." I explain, tears coming to my eyes again.

Their jaws drop, but Ikuto regains composer and rushes to my side, Utau holding my hands to comfort me. Ikuto begins rubbing my back, saying how it doesn't make a difference that I'm a product of rape.

"Alright," I conclude. "It's time to talk to Father Tsukasa."

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	14. God Bless the Child

In Little River

**Chapter 14: God Bless the Child**

_"'Them that's got shall get, them that's not shall lose,'_  
_so the Bible said, and it still is news._  
_Mama may have, Papa may have, _  
_but God Bless the child that's got his own."_

_- Billie Holiday_

I trudge up the path to the church that I have never used. It's charming, really, but holds a mystery. I've lived here my whole life, been to church countless times, and I've never used the proper way to enter. Of course I know the reason, it just seems strange to me. Strange like Father Tsukasa himself. Yeah.

I finally reach the entrance to the church, and glancing to my left, I notice the patch of trees with a manmade opening - sorry, _Amu_-made opening - where I would scurry off to mass on Saturday nights. I really knew how to live it up. That's all over now.

I open the old, wooden church doors and peek inside, making sure there isn't a funeral or baptism going on. There isn't, to my luck, so I step fully inside to make my presence known. "Father Tsukasa?" I call.

"Amu," he breathes, quite close to me. I jump back, frightened by his ambiguiousness. "What can I do for you today?" He folds his hands together in front of him, contented.

"You knew my mother." I state. My knowledge of this didn't surprise him, for he smiles and nods his head.

"I did. And she was a lovely girl. There's something else." He observes, already predicting - or knowing, it _is _Tsukasa after all - that I have more questions.

"Did you know about her meeting her father?"

His smile turns downward into a frown, his hand gesturing forward into the church for us to have a seat on one of the pews. He also knows that his afternoon will be spent here, with me.

"First of all, how did you come by this information?" He asks, seating himself in the closest pew.

I don't answer him verbally. Instead, I reach into my bag and pull out the diary. "Does this look familiar?"

His eyes widen, but not in fear or surprise. He looks at the brown, leather journal and smiles. He looks as if he knew it very well.

"My goodness. What a memory. And Avon- your grandmother kept it?" He asks, catching himself.

"I think it was found with my mother's body. Grannie collected the other items and put them back in their places."

"And... you've read it?" He asks worriedly.

"I know I'm a product of rape, Father." I frown, looking up to the altar. "Why does Grannie think I'm Will's daughter?"

"Once Ros- your mother discovered that she was pregnant, she told the two of us. Because they were in a relationship, we thought it best to pretend that it was Will's." His eyes, for the first time, look very grim and broken. He's always in such high spirits, so it's strange to see him look so somber. "But so you know, I would have, no questions asked, taken Will's place if it had not been for their relationship. I would have given up my pursuit to holiness for your mother."

Tears prick at my eyes, so I try to relax and calm down, but they flood instead. "Thank you, Father." I laugh inwardly at the double entendre. He smirks, which looks strange on a priest, but because Tsukasa is what they'd call beautiful, it works for him. "Why did... why did mom leave Grannie?"

"She was running away. Your uncle kept waiting for her outside of school on Wednesdays. You know that she was kidnapped a couple of times that year. Sometimes she couldn't leave the school without him noticing. Her life was in great peril, and both myself and Will feared for her. She came to the Carnation House, stayed there, and... well, you understand." He explains.

"But... But why didn't Will come and get me, as my 'biological' father?" I ask.

"Well, even back then, he was never written on your birth certificate as your biological father. But his family had moved to another country, with utmost regret. Rosie..." He tests the name to see if I would allow him to call her that, instead of using 'your mother.' "She had sent a letter to him, telling him that you would spend your time in the orphanage. He couldn't, even after her death, come claim you as his daughter. There was no proof."

"Oh." Well, I guess it makes sense.

"Amu, your life is going to get better. No, it's getting better. Both of those men haven't been seen here in years. Your grandfather is, to my knowledge, still locked up, and his brother, he fled the scene after your mother was murdered."

"There's a question I want to ask, but I know you can't answer it." I tell him.

"I can try?" He smiles.

"Okay," I pause, not knowing how to phrase my next words. "How was Rosie murdered?"

He looks down, a tortured expression appearing on his features. I can tell this question has haunted him for years."That, I... I do not know. I speculate a lot of things, however."

"Okay?" I ask, urging him to continue.

"Well, they found her clothing, covered in blood. I assume that," He pauses, feeling uncomfortable with saying what would come next. "She may have been beaten to death." He says slowly. As my face falls to horror, he quickly begins to share another speculation. "Or, she was never murdered." At my look of shock and hope, he places a hand on my knee, as if to stop me from leaping up to go find my mom. "She may have been kidnapped. We both may never know. Just accept, Amu, accept that we will never know. It's been sixteen years." Well, what a buzz kill.

"Okay." I repeat, not knowing what else to say. "I have to go home now." I get up to leave, but it's hard. My heart is so heavy.

"Don't investigate into it, Amu. If you go too far, well, they're dangerous men, the ones who did whatever it was to Rosie."

**»-(¯`v´¯)-» Olivia Lively »-(¯`v´¯)-»**

As I drive home to Grannie's, my thoughts spiral on one specific thing, and one alone: Rosie could still be alive. It's time for more answers. I don't want to tell Grannie that I know what happened, but whatever this feeling is, it's begging to be noticed and answered.

A short while later, I pull into the tree-lined drive way. Parking the truck, I hop out and dash to the entrance of the house.

"Amu?" Grannie calls. "Why are you home so late?" She's obviously worried.

"I was asking questions." I answer simple. You have nothing to hide, Amu.

"For an hour?" She laughs. "And who was answering them?"

"Tsukasa."

A flash of utter horror crosses her features for a moment, but she continues making, to what I can tell, a set of wind chimes. She looks up, as if she were confused as to who that was. "A friend from school?"

"Grannie, don't play dumb. I have her diary. I saw the pictures." I slap the journal on the table where she was working.

She put her face into her hands, upset. "I should have hidden that thing the moment you moved in."

"Well, too late. I know everything. And you do too?" I ask, unsure that she had read it.

"No," She answers. "I'm one of those mothers that respects their child's privacy, alive or not." She leans forward and touches the journal lightly. "I hadn't known it was full of her secrets."

"Well then maybe," I start to feel anger boil inside of me. "You would have known that Rosie was meeting her uncle after school instead of going to music lessons. Maybe you would have known that she was being kidnapped by him and her father."

"Stop, uncle? Which uncle?" Grannie questions.

I scoff and open the journal to one of the pages I dog eared and pointed to a line where Rosie wrote about meeting him.

"He... my husband, he..." She is scared. "He and I were only children! I met his entire family!" Correction, she isn't scared. She's scared, hysterical.

"What?" This must be some mistake.

"He wasn't hiding it from me, I would have known. Is this the man that... killed her?"

"Tsukasa has thought that she may never have been murdered. Kidnapped, maybe. But if she was indeed murdered, what I know from the journal, her 'uncle' is the only one she mentioned that was following her." I use air quotes.

"Are you sure? Are you sure it was this," she skims the diary to pick out the name, "this Uncle Sam? Did you skip something?"

"Well, I don't think so... Let me have another look." I reach for the diary, caressing the leather.

"I need to lie down. Oh my God." She starts sobbing lightly as she makes her way to the staircase.

"I'll come wake you for dinner." I call to her. She put her hand over her mouth, showing how much that had meant to her.

I settle down on one of the wingback armchairs, turning on the floor lamp placed beside it. I didn't get a great look at the journal last night. It was time to dissect this thing, and find the truth to my mother's disappearance.

**You know what to do! Pwease :)**


	15. First Date

**LivLiv: GUYS. I developed an infection after my surgery, so they put me on antibiotics. Turns out, I was allergic to some of the pills they gave me and now I'm done taking the pills. BUT NOW I'M ITCHY ALL OVER AND CAN'T SIT STILL. WHAT A WORLD. Thought I'd share.**

**Exams are coming up so this might be the last chapter you'll see for a month or two. Sorry.**

In Little River...

**Chapter Fifteen: First Date**

_"Let's make this night last forever."_  
_- Blink 182_

I reread the entire book, shook it, and still couldn't find anything. I'm guessing it was that guy that pretended to be mom's uncle that killed her, but there isn't enough evidence to press charges. We can't even press charges in the first place because we don't know his location.

Sighing, I start thinking about getting up and starting dinner, but an idea pops in my head. What if mom wrote in pages in the diary in an inconsistent order? The diary isn't full, so there's a possibility that the last fifty or sixty pages could contain some vital information. I start flipping the last set of unused pages quickly, briefly glancing at them on both sides to make sure I'm not missing anything. Then I find it.

In the last twenty pages, there was a small, rectangular shape cut in the same place of every page, leaving an opening big enough for a small key to be taped to the last page. My heart starts racing as I rip the key from it's securely taped position. Whatever this key opened had to either be in mom's room or Carnation house... I just don't know where to start looking.

So I ransack mom's room - my room - for something. I try shifting all of the floor boards to see if any were loose - a perfect spot for hiding - I open every drawer, hell, I even look in mom's old jeans, but nothing could be found.

"Grannie?" I call as I lightly knock on her door, turning the knob.

"How long have I been asleep?" She asks.

"Just under an hour, don't worry. Grannie, I need to go to town to..." I think about my next move. Do I tell her? "Get some groceries for dinner tomorrow night, I want to make something special."

"Okay, you sweet dear. We should watch a movie tonight, pick something up?"

"Of course."

"Will you be home for dinner?" She asks, with no expectation of me being home in time to eat. At least, I hope she didn't want me home. It's a half hour there and back from here to town, and I'll probably spend some time actually looking for the diary. Maybe I could get dinner with Utau or something.

"Oh, I might be home late. I spend a lot of time shopping. Go ahead and eat without me, I'll take care of myself!" I assure her, exiting the room slowly. I grab the keys and my purse once I'm in the kitchen and head to the truck.

**»-(¯`v´¯)-» Olivia Lively »-(¯`v´¯)-»**

Pulling into the abandoned driveway of the Carnation House was nerve-racking. I feel sick going in and asking for my mother's things. I feel out of place. Walking to the door, I knock and wait for someone. Mother Superior answers it, and she seems to know what I'm here for.

"You're looking for a box."

"Yeah! How - how did you know?"

"I figured you would have found out sooner or later. We never told you because we couldn't get it open."

She leads me to her office and pulls out a decorative and locked tin box.

"Do you have the key?" She asks.

"Yeah," she hands me the box and I fiddle with it.

Then a thought nearly knocks me off my feet. Why am I doing this in front of Mother Superior? I mean, I know she kind of _deserves _to see what's inside, but she's done a lot to make me feel miserable.

Time for retribution. Revenge. Whatever.

"What time is it?" I ask quickly, resting the box on my lap, after sitting down.

"Half past five." She answers calmly, smiling at me.

"Oh my goodness!" I outburst, grabbing my purse and standing suddenly. "I have," I search my mind quickly for an excuse, "an appointment soon!"

"Best not be late, dear!" Mother hurries me out of the house, worried I might be late.

"Thank you, Mother Superior, for _everything." _I emphasize, bowing slightly.

"Anytime, child." She smiles and waves as I make my way to my truck. I turn on the engine and back out on to the highway, driving far enough away from the entrance to Carnation House so Mother won't see me going through the box. Then an idea strikes me. Well, my stomach growls, and an idea strikes me. The box can wait. It's time to get my grub on.

I drive back on to the highway and turn right shortly after, entering Littler River. (I was convieniently parked 20 meters away.) Deciding on where to go, I first head to Utau's to see if she's available tonight. On my way there, I notice a figure walking along the road. Ikuto.

"Hey baby, you looking for a date?" Ikuto smartly quotes Pretty Woman when he recognizes my truck after I slow down beside him.

"Yeah, it's my birthday, how 'bout a freebie?" I retort. "What are you doing?" I ask.

"Looking for something I can vandalize." He smirks, but it turns into a smile when I scowl at him. "Kidding. I was actually going to Ron's for a bite to eat. Another night of the nun's cooking will send me to the nut house."

"Aww, but isn't it your last night working there?"

"No, tomorrow's my last night. Then I'm free." He looks to the sky and breathes in dramatically.

"You should eat there tomorrow night, it _is_ your last night and I'm thinking of stopping by for old times."

"Are you asking me out?" He smirks.

"Wh-what? No!"

"Well, you're going to have to raise the bar up a bit. Dinner at a nunnery isn't within my standards."

"Are you saying that I'm not good enough for you?" I joke with him.

"No. You're perfect." And this is what surprises me - he says it without a smirk.

"Uh... thanks?" I smile weakly. Awkwardly, is more like it.

"So about that date..." Ikuto is now leaning against the rolled down passenger window.

"What date?" I say, aghast.

He sighs, opening the door of the truck and sliding into the passenger seat. "Are you taking me to Ron's?" His eyelashes are fluttering girlishly, and it looks completely wrong on him.

"Not if you keep doing that."

"Yeah, I was grossing myself out." We both laugh as I swich the car back into drive, pulling a U-turn and heading down Main Street, towards the highway. We pass Ron's, and Ikuto shoots me a worried look. "You've lived here how long? You just missed Ron's."

"I'm taking you to the Red Dragon." I smile, turning into the small parking lot.

"How romantic." He muses sarcastically.

We enter the restaurant, and it's pretty busy for a Wednesday. I mean, there was more than five customers. In a town of maybe 300 citizens, five is a steady and big number. We seat ourselves by a window, and an Asian waitress brings us menus. I thank her and start browsing the combination plates. I've been craving Chinese food for a while, so my stomach starts growling.

"Cute." Ikuto comments, flipping through the menu.

"I'm hungry, okay?" I scowl at him.

"Why so serious?"

"You're clever today, aren't you?" I smile at him, talking about how he keeps referencing movies. First Pretty Woman, now The Dark Knight.

"I'm always clever." He looks closer at the menu and smiles. "Number 56. Done." He folds the menu and places it on the edge of the table. I read Number 56. Fried rice, an egg roll, lemon chicken, and chop suey. Good taste.

The waitress arrives a few minutes later, and we're both set to order.

"What can I get you?" She smiles. Ikuto nods at me to go ahead and I start.

"I'll have combo 56." I smile politely, shooting a smirk at Ikuto.

The waitress turns to him, and he's eyeing me as if he knows something I don't.

"And I'll have what she's having."

When Harry Met Sally. I totally set him up for that one. Clever bastard.

"Cleverness killed the cat." I sat, changing the famous idiom. I frown at him, but it doesn't last long, because Ikuto's smugness forces laughter to bubble quickly from my lips, starting somewhere deep within my stomach. He's funny, don't blame me.

"You know you love it."

"Yes, Ikuto." I smile, genuinely at him. "I love when people talk filmy to me."

"You and that mouth of yours. 'Filmy.' Clever girl." He observes, smiling. I know that smile. He has another movie quote coming. "Such vocabulary. But hell, anything you say makes my heart swoon, because -"

"You had me at hello." We both say, quoting Jerry Maguire. More laughter comes from our table, and the family next to us shoots us glares. Ikuto glares back, and one of the small children starts crying.

"You're the devil!" I mock whisper, kicking him lightly under the table.

"In disguise." He smirks. So now he's talking music? Elvis isn't that impressive to me, but he works well on his feet. Like a cat.

"Okay, Presley. I quit." I start to gather my things, pretending I'm leaving.

"You can't leave. We just ordered." He reminds me calmly.

"Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn." I smirk at him, sitting back down.

"I walked right into that one." His head sinks into his hands, resting on the table.

"And I held the door." I joke back, laughing.

Our food finally arrived, and we ate in anything but silence. The whole 'date' was so fun, and I'm really starting to like him. Not only is he smart, funny, and -not including the past 5 years - nice, but he's totally gorgeous and is a great kisser.

These are my thoughts as I pull out of the Red Dragon and back on to the highway. After a goodnight kiss, of course. I'm giddy with excitement. This is too good to be true.

As I pull into the long driveway to Grannie's, I realize two things.

Number one, I forgot the groceries.

And two, I haven't looked in mom's box yet.

**LivLiv: Are you guys excited for what will be revealed next chapter? Me too, because I have no idea. Writer's block! That's not why I won't update for a month though, it's because I need to study and pass this course I'm taking. This chapter was so much fun to write.**

**If you couldn't already tell, I'm kind of a movie buff. **

**Cheers!**

**Oh, and please please please review, I need inspiration! Remember, more reviews, faster updates!**

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	16. Headache

**LivLiv: I'm starting to write the day after I post chapter 15 to make sure it's done by May. I had a nightmare and it was terrible. That's all.**

In Little River...

**Chapter Sixteen: Headache**

_"This wrinkle in time, I can't give it no credit. I thought about my space and I really got me down. Got me so down, I got me a headache. My heart is crammed in my cranium and it still knows how to pound."_

_-Frank Black_

I wake up sleeping in the armchair, my hair still a little wet from my shower last night. I am next to Grannie, sleeping in the other one. We talked all night about the box.

I'll explain.

When we opened the box, millions of tiny papers flew out of it. Reading the slips of paper, we figured out some things. We got the guy's phone number, address, and small things that he did to her. Turns out, he abused mom frequently. I hope it isn't genetic; I don't want to be in that kind of relationship. They say 'like mother, like daughter.' Except mom didn't have the gall to escape it like Grannie.

That is, until the summer of 1997. She wrote of how she was going to meet him as required (demanded by him) and somehow attack him back, freeing herself. At least, that's what she wrote on one of these papers. I don't understand why they were all folded and ripped from binders, notebooks and so on, but I figure it was mom's attempt at secrecy in case someone found it. They might think it was just garbage. That's what Grannie thought when she saw me going through it.

Apparently though, this man, 'Uncle Sam,' - if Sam is even his real name, because he wasn't even really mom's uncle in the first place - had met with mom many times with other various men. I think they were planning on killing her the night she met with him, and all of the other friends of 'Sam's' she had met since she began seeing him; Jim, Clayton, Chris, Donnie, and Jeff were there that night, too. She was ambushed.

What a horrible way to go. She must have been so scared.

We made a plan. We are going to call the police, remind them of the lost investigation of my mother's death, and show them the information. Maybe these were the missing pieces they needed to solve the murder.

I, however, want to take things into my own hands. His address, I know, is located on the highway. Far away, but near here. I'm going. I'm going to kill him.

I mean, I know that technically he's my dad, but he killed mom. I thought about getting back up, but... I need retribution for mom's murder. I need revenge. Maybe I'm sick, I don't know, but I don't care.

An idea flies into my mind. Ikuto. Maybe I can get Ikuto and Utau and some other friends from school to help! Help me... kill a guy.

Okay, maybe just Ikuto. I mean, none of them know that I'm an orphan, other than Ikuto and Utau, so it might scare them off. Might seem a little fishy to them.

Ugh, I have a headache now. Checking the time, 6:45, I start making breakfast for Grannie and me. I search the kitchen to see what we have to eat. Turns out, we have eggs, ham, cheese slices, and english muffins. Just what I wanted. I start making Egg McMuffins, because they're so delicious. I had them once a while back, there not being a McDonald's in Little River. Utau took me to see a movie in the city, and we stopped for 'fast food.' It was greasy and so good. I hope Grannie likes it.

By the time I had the table set and was putting the food on the plates, Grannie was awake.

"Dear! You didn't have to! You're precious." Grannie exclaims.

"After the night we had, I figured we needed something good to start the day." I explain.

"Egg McMuffins!"

"You know them?" I ask.

"Amu, I may be old, but I've been to McDonald's before." Grannie tuts me as she sits down.

We enjoy our meals, and I go upstairs to get changed for school. I put on another classy dress of my mother's. She had style, okay? And we're the same size! This one is a light, muted green colour with some faded geometric pattern. It isn't a poodle skirt, instead it's tight around my body, fitting nicely, and the hem caresses the middle of my calves. I don't think the T-shirt sleeves will keep me very warm, so I dig in mom's closet for a sweater of some kind. I pick out a woolen white cardigan, and looking in the mirror, I decide that I'm ready. In perfect timing, too, because the second I open the door, Grannie calls from downstairs, "Amu! It's 7:34! You might be late!"

Picking up my pace, I jog safely down the stairs and out the front door with keys, my backpack, and my purse. But not before kissing Grannie's cheek.

Starting the truck, I realize something as I back out of the driveway. I need gas. There's a station by the police/fire department.

After I pumped some gas at a station on the highway, I got to the school, realizing I was late. Class starts at 8:10, and I was there by 8:23.

Pulling into the parking lot, I notice someone getting into a car, and throwing their school bag into the backseat. It's Ikuto.

I honk on the horn, hoping to get some attention from him. His head lazily looks my way, eyes widening. He starts walking toward me.

"I thought you were sick or ditching or something, so I borrowed my friend's keys. Where were you?" He asks, concerned.

School can wait, can't it? I have more important things to do, anyways. "Get in." I say, planning on where to go next. There aren't many places to go to when ditching school, not that I've done it before. As if the nuns would let me. Time to go on an adventure.

"What's this all about?" He asks curiously after he throws his bag into the bed of the truck.

"I might have solved the mystery of mom's murder."

His eyes widen, and a small smile plays on the corners of his lips. "Are you sure?"

"Remember 'uncle Sam' from the diary? He wasn't actually her uncle, as mom's father had no brothers. So I'm not a product of incest, which explains why I don't have an extra toe," I laugh, he smirks. "And all signs point to him being the murderer. I actually have evidence."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I'll show you once we settle down somewhere."

**»-(¯`v´¯)-» Olivia Lively »-(¯`v´¯)-»**

We've been on the highway for about 15 minutes, just listening to the 70s, 80s, and 90s radio stations. To my right, out of Ikuto's window, there is a gorgeous empty beach, so I pull in. There are even picnic tables.

"Wow, this is great." Ikuto comments as he scans the area.

"Let's just plunk down on one of those benches." I say as I grasp the handle of my door.

"_Up next is Sunny Days by Lighthouse, 1972."_ The radio says.

Not a second after, Ikuto's and my head both turn to face one another with goofy smiles in recognition of the song.

"Best song ever." He says slowly. I respond by turning the volume up until the static is more noticeable on the stereo.

And we sing along, naturally.

"Sitting stoned alone in my backyard  
Asking myself why should I work so hard  
Sitting, dreaming 'bout the days to come  
Half undressed just soaking up the sun

Sitting here, I hope I don't get fried  
Two years ago, you know, I almost died  
And yet there's nothing better for your soul  
Than lying in the sun and listening to rock 'n' roll!"

Ikuto and I broke out into a crazy car dance for the chorus, screaming the lyrics at the top of our lungs.

"Sunny days, OH sunny, sunny, sunny days. Ain't nothing better in the world you know," so we point to one another, "than lying in the sun with your radio!"

A fit of giggles and laughter follows. And in that very moment, while laughing and looking into each other's eyes, I think I fall a little bit more for Ikuto. This is the guy I used to know. Crazy, funny, easy, he hasn't changed.

"So I've been itching with curiosity for 20 minutes. Let's get to it, Amu." Ikuto interrupts my thoughts. I like how he says my name.

"Yeah!" I reply, a little too eagerly. I realize a little too late that he was talking about mom's box, as my lips are on his, and my arms are wrapped around his neck with my fingers in his hair.

He doesn't seem to mind, as now, he's kissing my neck.

"I-Ikuto…" I say, unwrapping myself from him.

"Right," he says, turning away, hiding his face. I couldn't help but notice a light blush.

"No, no, no! I started it. I kind of forgot what we were doing." I explain honestly.

"Me too," he laughs. "The evidence."

I pull out the box from my bag, smiling at the fact that Ikuto and I can be like this without too much awkwardness. I begin to tell him my findings.

"So I was flipping through mom's diary – searching, really – for more information, and I found a key taped somewhere in the back of the book." I raise the key, showing it to him. "Then, I searched mom's whole room, everything, then I realized something. Mom ran away from that house, with me, and lived at Carnation House."

His eyes widen. "No," he says.

"So I went to Carnation House, and Mother Superior was expecting me, and she had the box."

"No," he says again.

"When I opened the box, hundreds of tiny little papers containing addresses, phone numbers, and other little things – well, big things – that happened. Things like how much she was beaten, raped, and so on. And how she planned to escape it on the night of her murder." I pause, holding his gaze.

"Evidence." He states. "What are you going to do?"

"I've thought about going to the police, but as the past is remembered in order to avoid repetition, I'm thinking…" I don't know how to word this. I haven't said it out loud yet, and I'm not even sure if I want to go through with it. "I'm thinking of taking things… into my own hands."

He stares at me with a fearful but understanding expression. "What do you mean?"

"I'm going to kill him." I say slowly, avoiding his gaze.

"How can I help?"

**LivLiv: I'M SO SORRY I TOOK FOREVER TO UPDATE. I kind of forgot. But I'm back for the summer! And I also have plans for this story. Stay tuned!**


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